Gravestones
by YamiYugiPuzzleshipper
Summary: "You're not listening to me. That's not a normal dog. It's called a hellhound and if you look into its eyes three times, your death is absolute. Now how many times have you looked upon the dog?"


**WARNING: Blood, Gore, Violence, Major and Minor Character Deaths, Mild Cursing**

 **The hellhounds in this story are a subspecies of werewolves (more information in _Marrow_ if you haven't already read that because it explains a bit of the behavior in this story). According to some of the lore—and actual wolf behavior because they DO scavenge for food at times—werewolves were known for digging up corpses and eating them. It's recorded in a few older myths but not so much in the later (because by then they had become Hollywood monsters) and cannibalism was massive in those myths and "real life" werewolves as well. The hellhound focuses more around that than the lycanthropes, though, obviously, if you've read _Marrow_ already, then you'll see why a lycanthrope would do it too.**

 **The hellhounds are modeled more around Fenrir the wolf in Norse mythology (who was destined to eat Odin and end the world when Ragnarok came around) as well as his sons Skol and Hati (who chase the moon and the sun in Norse mythology). They are highly chaotic, vicious, and the darker subspecies of werewolves (which is the general species name for a person who changes into wolves).**

 **I'm seeing how the hellhounds work out in this story as a test run for the multi-chapter werewolf story I'm going to be writing soon enough. Like in _Marrow_ , they are only a test run and not completely set in stone. **

**Some of the mythology is used and altered significantly or slightly to work with the needs of this story (and the multi-chapter I'm going to be doing).**

 **If you get queasy at the thought of blood, violence, death, or gore, then I suggest you leave this story while you still have the chance. Although, I think if you can handle vampires and how they suck blood from your veins or zombies and how they eat your brains, then you can handle my hellhounds.**

 **Storyline Inspired by: _Animal Planet: Lost Tapes Episode 14: Hellhound_ , _Are You Afraid of the Dark? Episode 1: The Tale of the Phantom Cab, Episode 26: The Tale of Old Man Corcoran_ **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Yu-Gi-Oh or Animal Planet or Are You Afraid of the Dark?.**

Gravestones

"I've been trailing them for weeks now. There's no question of whether or not we'll get some fun out of this."

 _And you're sure_? _It is time consuming to chase the humans that actually have_ some _kind of brains._

"So then we'll change the game. Don't worry about it. I have the perfect idea."

 _Do tell_.

"But of course. How else would we be given our proper payment? There is no reason to lose easy prey and hunger longer than necessary."

* * *

"Are you rolling?" the boy demanded, smirking slyly as he turned his head and glanced at him sideways. Teal green eyes, flashing with laughter and glimmering with depths like the ocean, locked with honey-brown colored with flecks of cinnamon that bordered on soft red. Blond shaggy hair truly unruly with long bangs that fell into his eyes, the other boy nodded and tapped the edge of the camera in his palm. A red light blinked near the flash's bulb and the first boy purred happily as he tipped his head back and turned away to press his palm into the wheel with approval. "Good boy. I want to get every single moment of this ritual. It's going to be amazing."

A grin was flashed from the blond beside him to the beautiful girl in the middle set of seats. Dark violet eyes flickered with laughter as she granted him a wide smile of amusement and nodded. A glance was cast over the others in the group, all of them spread out in the ten-seat minivan, just large enough to hold their usual members and this newcomer. All of them were dressed in an article of black, whether it was scarce or more apparent.

Seated directly in the middle of the very back seat was a brunette with blue coloring the very tips of her short layered hair. It matched her cerulean eyes, lending them yet more depth that was unneeded. One could lock eyes with her and see everything in her mind if they only bothered to try to read her expression. She was dressed in a dark blue ruffled plaid skirt with a sheer black lace top layer with dark gray tights beneath that fell away to striped royal blue and black knee high socks. Black sneakers with blue skulls made up the sides of her converse sneakers with dark gray laces.

The boy to the right of her was the lankiest of the group, with a nearly sick appearance and pale skin that made it seem as if he were vampiric. His skin was sunken, his eyes seemingly peering endlessly through them all as he glanced around lazily, at ease with it all as he always had been. Built so small with features that made him look almost like a typical zombie from a Hollywood horror film to make a cheap buck off of, the boy had dark black hair that fell like that of a shaggy dog's fur. It looked knotted and greasy in the front but fell in a way that was oddly appealing to the eye, windswept slightly to the side. Formerly it had been a strange bluish-black color that rode on a horribly receded hairline and came up in sloppy spikes that had made most cringe upon seeing it.

The black clothing did nothing to his skin, the shirt lent the obvious gothic design of a red cross in what looked like paint smeared across the front and given flicks of the color at each end. His jeans looked far too baggy, dark gray to match his shoes which boasted the same color but with black soles.

To his right sat a brunet with his hair gelled into a single large spike, a deep brown that bordered on chocolate but grew darker where he had shaved it in the back along the nape of his neck. Opting for a similar outfit to the boy beside him, he wore a simple black graphic tee with several bracelets resting on both wrists and dark gray jeans that looked almost black and a pair of white sneakers. A few small chains crossed paths on his left side but did not do much to draw the eye.

In front of them, positioned to the left and directly seated against the window, sat the blonde, having demanded the entire row of seats to herself. Resting comfortably, she had twisted herself in her seat to be able to pull her legs out from beneath the bottom strap of the seatbelt to drape smooth, hairless tan legs across the other two cushions. Leather combat boots ran up to her knees, tied off neatly, the back zipper of the shoes done completely to jingle softly when she moved. Directly above the top of her boots came the flowing material of a skirt to a formfitting black lace-patterned corseted silk dress. Her hourglass figure was shown off beautifully with the article of clothing, her tan highlighted with the addition of the sheer sleeves that draped down her arms to give her an appearance akin some of that of a gothic goddess.

A single black ring rested on her pinky finger and a dark-banded watch rested on her wrist, the only two pieces of jewelry to line her arms. A layered necklace with chains of black metal given dark amethyst gemstones fell across the cut of her elegant gown, highlighting the cleavage she was using to tempt the blond in the passenger seat. Dark violet eyes were layered with eyeliner and mascara though her lashes had no need for either, giving her gaze a more defined cut almost akin a viper's.

"So what did you tell the loser about tonight?" their driver demanded, glancing at the blonde from the rearview mirror and admiring the long lines of her legs. The blonde tipped her head back towards the other girl and the brunet at the end of the seats.

"Nothing," the brunette said, shrugging. "We didn't tell him anything, Duke, just that we would pick him up and he would have to pass if he wanted to join."

Duke nearly snorted in disbelief, glancing over his shoulder to fix all three of them with a look that showed his incredulousness. The brunette frowned momentarily but hazel eyes met his head on, cool as they always were, and he came to her somewhat nervous rescue with the statement, "His name is Yugi and he seems okay for the most part. He said he was part of one of the groups before he moved to Domino—"

"Great," the other snorted, turning back to the windshield and shaking his head in amusement. "He better not expect us to run by the same rules as whatever reject group he was a part of before. This is mine and I'm not about to let him think that he can run the show because he's new and thinks he has experience."

"Anzu spoke with him, remember? If he was going to be anything like that, she wouldn't have gotten close enough to ask him to join, remember?" the brunet drawled, turning to stare out the window once more and ignoring the glance he received from the purple-eyed blonde.

"And then you and Jonouchi met up with him, didn't you, Honda? So what was your opinion? Do you think he's actually worth putting through the initiation or is it not even worth wasting our time?"

"I thought he was cool—for the most part. He tends to talk a little too much sometimes."

"Lovely. A habit for me to break him of."

"That's his house," Anzu stated, gesturing towards the game shop that appeared to their left. Duke stared at it momentarily, disgusted for a brief second before shaking his head and pulling into the driveway. His headlights gave off a harsh glare against the entrance of the small store that apparently served as Yugi's home; the door had shiny paint and glass that made the light cut into his eyes harshly. Red wood looked almost white with touches of silver along the edges as he looked the color over with disapproval and eventually cut the lights.

All of them piled out of the minivan, Anzu the one to knock on the door, impressed by how firm and yet soft the wood felt beneath her knuckles as she rapt them against it. She tried to peer through the darkness in the glass but swore she could see something moving within the room scarcely lit by moonlight. Her own shadow draped across the floor, painting white tiles dark gray, and she squinted, swearing she could see another movement within the darkness. But even with the attempt to catch the faintest of movements, she found nothing but the shadows that should have been there due to the stocks of merchandise.

The doorknob twisted in the dark, without a single light cast from inside, and the porch grew bright with a yellow cast as the bulb came to life. She glanced towards it, taking in the small lantern-like cast of iron that made up the bulb's home, sheets of thick glass giving it a more antique-like look. Set against the colors of the game shop it was oddly beautiful and eye-catching.

Yugi smirked as he came out of the door, eyes momentarily flickering towards the steps to the upstairs apartment complex where he could faintly hear his parents speaking about something or other. He stepped down the small inch drop between the bottom of the door to the first stair of the porch and paused briefly to look them over. Satisfied with the stunned expressions they wore at his attire, the way that they all blinked and looked ready to gape like fishes, he shut the door behind him.

He had been planning his outfit for far too long, left in front of the mirror and wondering about what looked the best. He had spent two hours mixing and matching until he felt as if his head might explode and then he had finally picked out the perfect outfit.

The black skinny jeans held studs of metal across the knees in rows of three and columns of six. Several studded belts hung around his waist, one draped loosely to hang down his hip in a diagonal strip of leather, serving to highlight the thick gold foiled black and silver chain that fell across his pants pocket. The clasp gleamed brightly as he stuck his hands in his pockets, giving sight to the bands of black across his wrists, the loose thin braids of gold foiled chains that rested above them. A loose-fitting white button-up shirt rose up from being tucked beneath the waistband of his pants to several layers of black glistening chains with random designs that fell to his abdomen in varying lengths. A choker around his throat boasted of a sheen like that of a silken ribbon, with a clasp made of a deep red gemstone. Atop the white button-up was a semi-classy black jacket that tied the entire outfit together beautifully and lent his skinny frame a more defined and powerful shape.

"Hello," he stated simply, moving down the second step and looking them over momentarily, eyes lingering briefly upon Mai's figure. He could nearly see her breasts but did not comment, instead turning to Duke as the leader of the group finally seemed to gather himself enough to speak.

The teenager was tall, with dark midnight black hair in which bangs highlighted both of his cheeks and seemed to give his jaw a bit more length and depth. It spiked upwards in the front, in three large clumps of hair that gave more notice to the ponytail he wore it in, with slight ruffles of strands that made it look knotted upon the top of the tail and along the nape of his neck. A black and silver diamond-patterned headband rested on his forehead, covering every inch of his skin to the very top of his eyebrows, with small skulls and crossbones making up symbols inside each silver shape.

A nearly sheer black and gray jacket rested over his arms, cut upwards in a soft curve that gave the hem of it an inward flowing design. A white shirt cut diagonal along the bottom showed off a small bit of lightly tanned skin and a studded leather belt. An upside down cross hung by a thin thread of curved metal chain links and Yugi allowed his eyes to flicker down to take in the black skinny jeans. Combat boots rose halfway to his knees and stopped there, laced and polished, and Yugi could tell that it was meant to give more of a light towards the many various pockets that made up his jeans.

His head turned back towards Anzu, eyes glinting with the yellow cast of the light next to his face. The whites lit momentarily, giving it a cast of glowing light gold that looked wet almost like a flickering flame in too vast a darkness for it to truly penetrate. Set beneath the thick black frame of spidery lashes, his violet eyes were given rings of dark sapphire blue around the pupils and outer irises, with small flecks of the beautiful shade glittering between. The sight of them was enough to make Anzu's breath catch, eyes widening in surprise at the beautiful glittering sheen of what looked like lapis-lazuli gems caught between sunlight and darkness.

For all her staring, she had not noticed when his eyes fell upon her now as well, gaze glittering with something akin amusement. His lips twitched into a small grin and he tilted his head as he looked her over. Her breath had caught upon their gazes meeting and her eyes widened as she remained mesmerized by him in that moment. His eyebrow rose slowly upwards and his lips pulled into a wider smile that bordered on a smirk.

"Nice shirt," Yugi commented with a small smirk, eyes flickering over her top and giving her a brazen glance at her chest before winking and walking past to follow Duke. Blushing furiously, the brunette swore under her breath, undone by the deep blue-violet eyes and the way that they seemed to glow even in the dim light cast by the porch light. She glanced down at her top, taking in the pentagram colored in deep blue and the candles that made up the bottom in a neat border of white, red and gray to give more notice to the belt across her waist. The studs were plastic painted black and red with small dots of blue and white that made up random checkered patterns.

"Great dress," he murmured, turning on Mai with interest and laughter making his eyes darker than they had been moments before. Anzu thought for sure that she could see lust as clear as day in those dark irises and her cheeks grew flushed with momentary jealousy. The two of them sized each other up, Yugi appearing mostly curious and full of laughter while Mai seemed enchanted with the attention she was being fed.

"Hello, Jonouchi, Honda, Bonz," the smaller male greeted, smiling at them and tilting his head slightly at the frustration that made the blond's eyes burn.

"T-thanks," Mai stammered after a moment, making all of their group glance at her though Yugi only nodded and swung his attention solely towards Duke. The taller male stared at her for a long second before turning to him as well, teal eyes widening faintly before narrowing into slits.

"And you must be Duke," Yugi stated calmly, angling his head up slightly as if he were challenging him, eyes still gleaming with laughter and amusement. The teal-eyed boy narrowed his gaze once more and his lip curled faintly before smirking and putting a hand on his hip, voice low and amused.

" _So_ , Yuki"—the other boy didn't even blink at the way he sneered the name and mispronounced it on purpose—"are you ready?"

"Yugi, actually," he drawled simply, voice calm as he smirked and tilted his head to the side, pulling his lips back just enough to show his teeth. The new position made his bangs fall to frame his cheeks and his forelock more of a striking quality that demanded to be looked upon. The highlight of goldenrod in that moment made Duke's eyes wander for a split second to take in the darkness of his midnight black locks of skyward spikes tipped with dark blue-violet to match his eyes where the colors blended slightly. "And yes. It sounds like fun."

"Fun? Humph," the other snorted, smirking in amusement and shaking his head. "Well, let's see if your words match the experience, shall we?"

"Yes…let's," Yugi agreed, eyes glittering with amusement as he followed the teen who spun on his heel and started towards the car once more. Raising his head and glancing over his shoulder towards the other with a small smile at the camera in Jonouchi's hand, he nodded faintly. The others smiled at him, Bonz amused by the little play of power that had been going on in front of him, and then all of them followed him towards the minivan.

The ride was mostly silent, though Yugi allowed them to wrap a thick black and silver-starred scarf around his eyes to keep him blind. The knot of material hurt where Bonz had tightened it unnecessarily, but it still did nothing to make him so much as complain. The others settled around, watching him and the road pass by, not making much small talk, and Yugi could feel them all glancing at him curiously every now and then.

"Is this blindfold truly necessary?" he finally wondered out loud, curiosity making his voice sound slightly confused and maybe a little upset with his lack of vision. His fingers twitched in his lap and he tried to squint through the material of the blindfold, catching only the faint outline of light that burned his strained vision. The colors of the material made his head spin momentarily before he closed his eyes once more, welcoming the darkness that greeted him and ignoring the way his lashes caught and folded upwards against the blindfold.

"It's part of the initiation," Duke drawled, smirking as he glanced over his shoulder momentarily. "Neophytes are blind until they are given the gift to see."

Yugi hummed at the response, shaking his head slightly and smiling in amusement as he reached up to scratch at his temple. "Well, that's not entirely true. There is no global interpretation of the initiations required to join the circles and many would do it another way. 'Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law'," he quoted, the last word coming out in a momentary purr. "That's from Aleister Crowley's _Book of Magick_."

Duke snorted in his seat and Yugi tilted his head, lips drawing into a slight line of a frown, unsurprised when he could hear the taller boy twisting around in his seat faintly. "And yet, tonight's law is that of doing as I say," he stated with a wide smirk, laughing out loud when he caught Jonouchi's surprised look.

"You're only coming with us to be _considered_ as a new member of our circle," the raven-haired boy continued after a moment, smirking as he glanced at him through the rearview mirror. Yugi tipped his head slightly to the side, almost as if he could hear him better that way, and Duke smirked in amusement at the sight. He looked like a dog that had grown puzzled because his master had failed to give them the treat that they were meant to for performing a highly impressive trick.

He had the impulse to burst out laughing at the thought. With the innocent look that Yugi seemed to have naturally, the dog analogy worked well.

"All right," the other agreed after a moment, a small bit of reluctance creeping into his voice. The blindfold continued to make his head feel as if it had grown a knot in the back and he was not happy about it when he leaned further into his seat. "But it's not necessary."

"Well, then let's go with the fact that this meeting place and the ritual are _private_ and not _meant_ for an outsider," he snapped, already growing annoying with Yugi's complaints. It was a blindfold. Unless he was afraid of the dark, then he just needed to deal with it. Duke snorted at the thought; if Yugi was afraid of the dark, he was going to have a lot of fun messing with him tonight. Although, odds were, if Yugi had been in a circle before, then he was hardly scared of something so mediocre. He wondered vaguely if he could scare him a bit tonight and grinned at the potential amount of possibilities. If he did, he would make a grand effort. "And you're not in yet. Be grateful that you are even being given this opportunity in the first place. _Tons_ of people want into our circle and we haven't let anyone in since Anzu here."

Yugi stayed quiet for a moment. "So you're the newest member then, Anzu?" he asked softly, tilting his head briefly in her direction. "For some reason I thought that maybe it was Honda."

A long moment of silence passed in the car and Yugi felt as if he had just said something extremely wrong. The moment was covered up quickly as he turned his head towards Anzu and then Honda, clearly uncomfortable as his lips tugged downwards for a moment.

"Anzu was the last one," Duke said with an edge that made the smaller teen tilt his head again. "But that doesn't matter anyways. Its whether or not _you're_ worthy of becoming one of us that matters, not who was the last to make it into the circle."

"True," Yugi conceded without trouble, putting his hands in his lap and pressing his feet together on the floorboard, the sides of them touching as he felt the car vibrate upwards through his shoes. Comfortable with the sensation, the smallest teen in the car tilted his head back into the rest behind him, tipping his face upwards towards the ceiling.

"Stop asking questions about everything and go with what I say," the leader of the gothic group snapped in a nasty tone before snickering softly. "Do as I say, go it? You won't survive the night otherwise."

He nearly burst out laughing at the statement. There was nothing that Duke could throw at him that would _possibly_ be worthy of a comment like that. That was just an intimidation tactic that wasn't working very well.

"Sit through the ceremony and prove yourself worthy or you're not joining us, _neophyte_."

He ignored the way he emphasized the word, rolling his eyes behind his closed lids in annoyance. He had joined a circle before he had come to Domino and he doubted that Duke's was so immensely special that it operated differently or needed more unique rules. Universally the circles were rather alike so this much trouble put into the ritual must have been for the sole purpose of attempting to punish him for having experience. Which hinted at a weak and easily intimidated leader without much confidence to boast of.

They stayed silent for the rest of the twenty-minute drive, though Yugi supposed it was mostly because there was nothing to say that would not spoil the ritual. He tipped his head back into the seat, ignoring the way that the blindfold's knot rested uncomfortably against his head. Relaxed completely, he was the only one that didn't jump when the car jerked slightly and Duke cursed violently. A wheel popped upwards as if it had hit something and Yugi stiffened, starting to tear at the blindfold around his eyes.

"You can take that off when I say you can," Duke snarled, cutting him off and then facing the windshield as Yugi froze in place. He squinted, peering through the material of his blindfold but only getting touched with the ceiling light once more. At first he could hear nothing but the soft curses from the others nearby and then, finally, the sound of the door opening.

The raven-haired teen got out of the minivan immediately, glancing towards where he could see a shape in the middle of the road only paces away from them. "We hit a dog," he muttered, watching Yugi stiffen and the others freak out, Honda shaking his head furiously.

" _You_ hit the dog, not us," the brunet snapped angrily, huffing in annoyance and glaring at him. "Shit, go check on it, Duke."

"Why the hell am I going to check on it? It isn't fucking moving—"

Yugi started to tear at his blindfold, shaking at the news. "Oh my gods, you killed a dog?" he cried in horror and remorse, trying to undo the knot in the back of his skull. "Go check on it! You can't just leave it like that! It might be someone's pet!"

"And so what if it is? It shouldn't have gotten in the middle of the road anyways," Duke snapped. "And don't take that off. I haven't said you could y—Holy shit!"

Yugi listened to the door slam shut and strained his ears for anything further just as the car shook violently with an impact to the left side. The car tottered slightly, off balance for a split second, and then the sound of snarls and teeth chomping met all of their ears. He worked at the knot again but stopped when he could hear the animal moving outside of the car, the sound of nails clicking against pavement making him freeze in place. The hood creaked with the impact of nails and paws pressing against the metal and a fierce snarl like a rabid tiger broke through the still air.

The others shrieked, Mai letting out a noise akin a bat and Anzu's voice high-pitched as she cried, "Oh my god!" in a horrified tone that made Yugi strain his eyes to see if he could peer through the blindfold again.

The sound of the metal creaking beneath the animal's weight made Yugi flinch momentarily, startled by the impact it seemed to make around the snarling. He could hear nails pressing harshly into glass, trying to break it open as it snarled louder and threw its body against the windshield. He was surprised by how loud it was, how heavy the impact, and the fact that he could even hear it over the shrieks that the girls were making and the curses that continuously left the other four males' mouths.

Jonouchi pressed himself harder against the back of his seat, eyes nearly popping out of his head at the sight. The dog had a muscular build akin a rotteweiler and pit bull mix, with longer legs and a narrower chest, its tail longer and straighter, with a soft curve that made the tip twist slightly to the right. Its head was lowered towards the glass, lips drawn back to show off every single one of its teeth, sharp, jagged enamel like the crests of distant mountains. The jaws opened wide, almost like that of an alligator's, and the sound that came out was a snarling bark that made both him and Duke flinch violently. Its eyes had been closed momentarily, the sound it emitted shaking the car and making them all jerk and shriek, Yugi joining them this time, though he had seemed pretty safe with the fact that he was blind to the sight of it.

Duke jerked back in his seat, pressing on the horn by accident, and its eyes snapped open, a bark tearing through it so loudly that the car shook and rattled once more. A paw pressed against the glass, and in the low light and the panic that surrounded them, he and Jonouchi could both see the steam that rose from the pad. Condensation bubbled up, illuminating each crack in the calloused foot, and the dog swung its head to let out a baying howl of a noise that made the windows shake. Its lips drew back to show off its teeth once more and its head lowered as it snarled, pawing the glass violently around snapping its jaw.

Pitch black and with fur that looked deceptively soft and fluffed outwards in long tuffs that fell smoothly downwards, if it were not snarling, the canine would have looked beautiful and almost sweet. But the eyes were glowing, a fierce distinct red like crushed rubies bathed in fallen blood, and the skin was wrinkled around the corners of its gaze, entire muzzle pulled back to show off gleaming rows of bright white teeth and healthy gums. Its ears were pricked forward, with soft tuffs on either side that stood up in what he could easily imagine a cute way if it weren't for its vicious expression.

It barked but the noise was more akin a roar, shaking the car yet again and making all of them cry out. He could vaguely see Anzu trying to bury herself into Yugi in her panic, shrieking loudly even as the smallest teen in the car attempted to undo the knot once more. Honda held his hands from doing so, cursing violently as the car shook once more and Yugi spat out a vicious, "Goddamn it!" when he was fully restrained. Snarling louder and throwing its body into the car, the glass creaked and the dog let out a bay of a howl that threatened to split each of their ears.

"Holy shit!" Duke screeched, slamming his palm into the horn once more and flinching when its red eyes swung to peer towards him. Almond-shaped with the whites replaced by black, the dog's gaze seemed to peer right through him, as if it thought of him as an easy meal or too pathetic to be worried about. Its jaws opened, snarling and baying as its teeth collided with the glass, and a long string of saliva coated it as the animal pressed further into the window. Between the snarls and its teeth slamming into the glass as its paws tried to break through the barrier, he honestly thought that it would make its way straight through in only a matter of moments.

But then the beast threw its head back, howling long and low, the car shaking violently and rocking like a ship cast upon choppy waters, and then it vanished. Duke and Jonouchi swapped looks immediately at its disappearance and Yugi continued cursing in the back seat, shaking his head sharply as he was once again restrained from taking the blindfold off.

"Oh my god."

"What the fuck _was_ that?"

"Was that a _dog_?"

"I thought you said it wasn't moving!"

"It wasn't!" Duke snapped, eyes wide and startled as he glanced out the window and back, breathing roughly; had the dog just run off or something? But then why hadn't he heard it take off or seen it turn away to run? He decided it was a trick of the light; the dog had obviously turned at some point but he had just not noticed it completely in his panic. There was no such thing as a dog being able to disappear into thin air. That was something out a children's book.

Rolling his eyes, he turned to face the others, finding Anzu still clinging to the newcomer and raising a brow that made her jerk away immediately. Yugi had long since pulled his hands away from his blindfold and instead kept them in his lap, head lowered slightly and fingers twitching restlessly against his jeans.

"Where'd it go?" Honda demanded, breathing hard but struggling to keep his voice steady and succeeding for the most part.

"It must have run off," Duke scoffed, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. He glanced at Jonouchi with the clear signal for him to keep his mouth shut, and then turned back to the others with a frustrated expression. "It was just a dog. It must have just turned and run away. It probably had rabies or something."

Yugi shook his head slightly, picking at the chain on his belt and looping one of his necklaces around his fingers in distress. The raven-haired teen could easily see him being one of those people who needed to constantly do something with his hands, wringing them when he was flustered and looking sick when he got nervous. He could never see him as being a good liar or much of a troublemaker, something that normally came with being part of the circle, and he wondered if it was worth the risk just to mess with the kid.

They got out of the car after a moment, Honda helping to keep Yugi balanced when he stumbled on the step out, the four inch drop nearly making him fall against the pavement. The smaller boy stretched his arms out momentarily, regaining his balance more fully, and then started forward with the others when they began to walk again. Anzu kept to his side strictly, holding his elbow while Honda kept the other in a firm grip to make sure he didn't suddenly topple over. The event in the van seemed to have affected him the most despite having not seen it, as if his inability to fix his eyes on it had done nothing but scare him far more than it would have otherwise. He supposed Yugi's adrenaline had probably thrown him for a loop, made the sound of the dog's already loud howls and snarls that much worse in his ears. The shaking of the car had done nothing to soothe, either, and he could easily see himself just as bad—if not worse—had he been in the smaller boy's place.

"I don't see how the blindfold is really necessary," Yugi commented after the wind picked up and tugged at his clothes slightly. He stumbled, his hands reaching for the material of the scarf and picking at it questioningly, desperate to tug it off but making sure not to.

"And I think I can tell you what's necessary and what isn't," Duke sniped, smirking as he continued to lead them along, and Yugi pulled his hands back down reluctantly, moving them to his pockets.

"Watch your step," Anzu stated when he stumbled slightly, Honda holding his arm a bit tighter to keep him from falling forward. Yugi flashed them both grateful looks, as if he hardly needed his eyes to see them, and then continued a bit more slowly, carefully picking his steps as they continued.

"Dude, Duke, this place is creepy," Jonouchi muttered, shaking his head and casting a glance towards Bonz and then Honda. None of the group had been initiated inside of a graveyard like Duke was doing with Yugi, and while it invoked a small bit of jealousy in the blond that the other boy got so much attention, he was also extremely grateful for it. He had never been one for the scarier things in life, as ghosts and the possibility of the paranormal or supernatural being true always made him want to vomit. Curses made him want to scream like a baby and flee and horror movies made him cringe even though he could take them on only if they weren't about otherworldly things.

"Oh please, you guys have nothing to worry about," Duke purred, laughing as he spun around and held his arms open; he had picked this cemetery specifically and mapped it out several times. He knew the path that they were taking like the back of his hand after two full weeks of crossing it, and could pick out every stick and stone that would litter it. "Besides, what better way to learn to appreciate life than to be surrounded by _death_?"

Yugi clicked his tongue in a scoff, shaking his head, and mumbled, "The dead aren't something that you should play with, Duke. Especially not when it comes to cemeteries and restless spirits."

The taller boy scoffed loudly, clicking his tongue in mockery of his response, and snorted, "Don't lecture me on this, neophyte. I know what I'm doing. Stick with me and find a place in the circle and you won't have anything to worry about with that."

The smallest teen nearly laughed out loud at the remark but merely chuckled, a low almost baritone noise, and shook his head as they continued. Honda and Anzu gave him more space to move, letting him know without words that the ground was steadier despite the soft downwards slope and the gentle bends in the uneven terrain.

A large slab of polished and beautifully smooth marble stone rested in the center of a grove between largely-branched trees that shot several feet into the sky with shadows cast upon the ground as thick as the fear that had come over them in the presence of the dog. The grass was cut low to the ground, crunching beneath their feet as they continued forward, and the leaves cast dapples of light from the sparse moon overhead. Intricate patterns of roots in the earth made tiny mazes for bugs and woodland animals among the cemetery, and the gravestones cast the perfect shelter for creatures trying to hide away from predators. The wind whistled when it shook the branches and the leaves scattered softly in its gentle embrace, nearly pulling from the stems but holding just barely.

The dirt made a soft thudding noise as they stepped along, the pace changing to a slower steadiness that seemed to mimic that of army men moving across the earth. A small statue rested on the end of the slab of marble and several chalices with iron designs like thorns and ivy across the stems and upwards into the bowl of the cup sat parallel before it. A large bowl like that of a clay pot, given small writing and bits of paint, with tiny legs to hold it upright, stood in between two metal glasses. A book rested in front of one, at the very end opposite the knelt angel, and upon it rested a medium-sized stone to keep it and some of the looser papers in place in case the wind grew to be too much. Around the slab were several large stones, arranged to make up seats for the group, a camera's red light blinking from where it was perched atop a headstone.

Duke cast Jonouchi a wicked glance, winking at Honda a moment later when he saw the surprised and suspicious look on his face. Mai purred softly in her throat, laughing quietly, and Anzu blushed at how oddly cozy the entire setup seemed, despite the darkness that the night offered. Bonz snickered happily, in his element as the boy had always been gothic and morbidly fascinated with the dead to the point that if he spoke most of the group would try to block him out in case the conversation swept that way.

"Seat him next to me," Duke announced, stepping around to the head of the slab across from the angel, sparing a moment to take in the beautifully done statue. Knelt downwards with its wings bent into the air and its hands held together in prayer, its hair fell to the left as if swept purposefully away from her right shoulder, and her face was done in a way that it was hard not to imagine her alive and well. He pictured long lashes and eyes like the sky with hair like silken sunlight and skin as pale as porcelain.

Yugi followed his voice for the most part, only allowing Anzu to help him take his seat when he drifted off into silence. The soft chirping of bugs off into the darkness made him tilt his head as he hesitantly touched the rock and then reached forward for the slab. His knee was pressed into the chosen stone first, lightly running over the hard surface as he ignored the way the studs threatened to block his sense of touch in that moment. He lowered his other leg, Anzu holding his arm to help him remain steady, and then curled them to the side first, testing his weight against the marble in front of him. Satisfied when it did nothing to tip forward or rock beneath his hands, he swept his legs to fold outwards, startled momentarily by how high up the ground was. He had expected it to be a lot lower, announced by his casual movement, and the sudden impact nearly sent him toppling forward, but his momentary scare was immediately gone again and he settled to put his palms on the marble.

Anzu watched with slight amusement and a small sense of amazement at his ability to recover so quickly and seem so comfortable without his eyesight. She took in the way that he slouched forward momentarily, rolling his shoulders, and then sat up straight, at attention and listening to the rest of them settle. His head would tip slightly towards each of them, listening and straining to hear when someone like Bonz would move too softly and he would have to lean forward to catch the rustle of clothing.

A candle was lit, the smell and the sound of a match striking its box making Yugi turn towards Duke as if the other had burned him. The air crackled with the small flame and the candle burned with a low, gentle flame against a wick that gave off soft hisses in the stillness. The noises of nature had seemed to suddenly drop away and no longer did crickets chirp or an animal move in the grass, paws almost too soft for any of them to catch.

"Those who enter this place must pay the ultimate price. You are the only one to be worthy of this ritual but you must pass my test or suffer the consequences," Duke announced, smirking in Yugi's direction as the smaller boy moved a foot against the ground almost as if in nervous anticipation. "Are you ready?"

"I am," Yugi said without hesitation, tipping his head up slightly as the others grinned and swapped looks.

"Then let us begin."

He could already feel how much excitement seemed to charge the group now. Anzu shifted almost nervously next to him, with an unease that only came with suspense. A small intake of breath came from Mai, highlighted by the silence, and he could hear Jonouchi letting out an almost silent sigh. Bonz sucked his teeth softly and Honda tapped his fingers against the marble surface. Yugi nearly smiled at the idea of how much nervous anticipation was coming from the students gathered around him. And he could tell without thinking that Duke was milking the entire situation and loving the situation of power that came with it.

A brief minute of silence passed between them all. A wind stirred lightly to touch at their faces as if in invisible affection. Yugi felt it curling over his skin and pricking him with ice like the tip of needles, almost as if begging for his approval. Drawing his resolve together, the small teen licked his lips and pressed his knees together momentarily with the desire to remain still and calm. The silence made the blood pound in his ears and for a moment he could feel his entire body pulse with his heartbeat, a low steady beat of muscle.

"Spirits of the somber night, those who preside over moon and stars, hear our voices calling out to thee," Duke began, book open and his head tipped upwards as he said the words by memory rather than reading. Yugi tilted his head slightly towards him, rolling his neck a moment later, and the scarf's tail fell across his right shoulder, the smaller boy relaxing immediately at the sensation.

But beside him, Anzu had stiffened and grown wide-eyed, swallowing hard at the words. He had yet to figure out if it was fear, residual from the encounter with the dog, or excitement at his initiation that made her do so. Honda was still tense across from him, eyes locked on Duke while Mai and Jonouchi sat near the statue, their hands touching from where they hung between their seats. Bonz sat at the other corner, near Honda, eyes bright with pure excitement and something akin wonder and amusement, lips drawn back into a small smirk of enjoyment.

"Blessed be."

A moment of silence passed, something of a cautionary pause, and then all of them chorused, "Blessed be" in unison. Yugi inched forward, shoulders somewhat rigid, and his head lowered slightly as he listened to the candle once more.

"Spirits, we appeal to thee, see us before you now. See this neophyte we present unto you tonight," Duke continued, voice rising and falling, but mostly serving to enunciate Yugi's status amongst the circle as a newcomer. "Blessed be."

The silence was much shorter now, nearly nonexistent, and their voice came up steadily in echo of his words.

"Spirits from the shadows we invoke thee. Rise, _rise_ and see us so that we may commence." He held up his hands and Yugi listened to the click of a lighter being flicked to life as Anzu gasped faintly beside him and Bonz chuckled softly in amusement. "Spirits, make your presence known."

"This is getting a little weird," Anzu whispered, giving Honda a small glance at the way the wind shook the trees for a split second. The bugs chirped for all of a moment and then fell immediately silent once more, as if spooked away from their harmonious chatter. She flinched when Duke shot her a look for silence, raising his chin to speak once more with a bit more power to his voice.

"Let us be silent so that we may hear the spirits bless this rite with a _sign_ of their presence," the boy stated softly, purring the last two words and picking the book up between his hands, holding it open and safely between his fingers. Silence greeted them for over a full minute's worth of time and the others became restless around him, shifting uncomfortably. Normally he would have taken the sound of a mouse scurrying or something moving in the trees, a gentle gust of wind, as a sign, but none of these things greeted them. There was nothing to be heard moving about or any rustles in the wilderness that could be considered worth attention.

The silence continued without relief and Bonz began twitching, feeling something creeping along his spine. A sense of terror and dread crept through him suddenly and he twisted around in his seat to see if he could identify the source of it. Nothing but shadows cast in the grass, mingling with the blades' own pale streaks of darkness, and the gravestones around them were visual to him. Nothing looked out of place, no wind stirred, no noise came about from the grass, nothing moved and nothing gained his attention or popped out as a culprit for his fear.

By the end of the minute, even Duke was growing restless. His grip on the velvet-lined book tightened and his fingers twitched momentarily, his eyes wide as he cast glances around. Jonouchi broke into a cold sweat next to Anzu, spine as tight as a bowstring plucked and held in place, and his eyes scanned furiously for anything that he could claim was a sign.

The moonlight was dreary and cast nothing but cold indifference over the field of graves. The dappled patterns upon the ground cast by the leaves gave nothing but deep shadows that made their skin crawl. Yugi could not see them but he could feel the coldness, unnatural even for a winter night, and he twitched in his seat, shifting his weight and raising his shoulders in a somewhat defensive gesture. A car passing along the street was the only outside noise and his shoulders stiffened more at the sound of it moving along through the darkness.

A snarl ripped through the air so suddenly that all of them sprang like startled cats. A shriek left them all in unison, the air seeming to thicken with the sudden fear that crept over them. Swinging around to peer into the darkness, they all looked for the culprit but for a moment found nothing. Yugi started to work on the knot on his blindfold again, fingers shaking, and he let out a noise of pure fear as the animal snarled once more.

The ground shook with the strength of the noise, the trees quivering, and they all swung around to look once more, Yugi quaking in his seat. The moon fell away into darkness, overcast by the clouds, and the entire area around them was cloaked in the vast nothingness of complete darkness. The candle's flame fell away for a split second, almost nonexistent and blown out or smothered by the still air, but then it flickered to life once more, and the faint light danced across carved stone and old worn paper, the rough exterior of tree bark.

The animal paced forward, snarling low in its throat in a tone that made Yugi's hands stop from where they were tearing at the knot. The sound of its movements was completely nonexistent and it crept along the length of a shadow from the gravestone several feet away without pause as if it were carved from the night itself.

Jonouchi yelled in panic, a startled, "Holy _fuck_!" coming out before he could think straight, and Anzu and Mai both belted out screams that made the air shake. Bonz began to breathe harshly, nearing hyperventilation, and Honda cursed but fell silent as he watched it, mesmerized and stupefied by the sight of the massive creature. Yugi shook like a leaf in the wind, bones quaking beneath his skin and a cold sweat beginning to break across his skin.

The animal stopped only two feet away from them, pulling itself to its full height where it had formerly been creeping along almost like a snake, slithering amongst the darkness. It stood on long, slender legs like that of a stag but with large paws that splayed outwards rather than forwards as it stopped to look upon them. Its head rose from where it had seemingly been sniffing the ground, stretched forward at shoulder height before it came completely up. Ears smooth and rounded at the top, standing erect and pricked forward, seemed to twitch in absolute unison with Jonouchi's pounding heart. Its eyes glowed a fierce russet color, demonic in every way as it peered at them, and slowly its head tilted, the almond-shaped gaze growing more vibrant in color.

The silence made them all stiffen impossibly more and the tension made them quake as its straight tail slowly rose into the air. The animal was a blur of motion as it opened its jaws as wide as they would go, snarling viciously, and launched itself straight for Duke. Every one of its teeth was aimed perfectly for his face, the air growing hot and bearing down on each of them as it grew closer. Bonz and Honda both threw themselves out of the way, ducking and spinning around to see the animal.

It looked like no dog Honda had ever seen and he had always grown up with them, having a German shepherd himself and always helping his parents out with the clinic. The muscles in its body seemed too well-defined, rippling beneath a coat that seemed to be cloaked in eternal darkness, shunning the silver light of the pale moon. The fur along its back was raised entirely in a bristle, its legs were long and its toes spread like that of cat leaping forward. The nails were sharper than anything he had ever seen, like a hooked knife that would never grow blunt, glistening in the low light unlike its fur, and the teeth had to be at least two to three inches long.

A howl that made the blood freeze in all of their veins left the animal just as it nearly closed in on Duke, jaws furiously aimed for his jugular. The boy was frozen in place, screaming, and his eyes seemed to nearly pop out of his head as his instincts suddenly kicked in. He ducked, throwing himself to the ground, and the dog sailed over him. It landed in the grass right beside his stone. Its head was thrown upwards in a long arch of muscle and fur. An enraged scream of noise escaped its mouth that made them all shake, blood boiling in their veins.

It stood for a brief moment, spinning on them and snarling, and its eyes glowed fiercely in the darkness, just as its jaws opened to show each tooth once more. Yugi sat completely still as hot air bathed over his arm, threatening to singe him, and the animal snarled softly before disappearing as if it had never been there moments before.

Honda blinked stupidly, struggling to try to wrap his head around the scene that had just played before his eyes. The animal had such a narrow chest and long legs, giving it a massive height that stood at almost four feet tall, but when it moved, it possessed the grace of a wolfhound. The robust muscle and more compact figure of its flanks and chest, its shoulders, and the narrow skull, the ability to open its mouth so fully and pull its lips so far back, was like nothing he had ever seen before. The ribcage had seemed to be sloped in a gentle upwards twist, giving it a leaner side profile but not failing to pronounce the power that it possessed. The back legs had propelled it so easily, with the grace of a pouncing jungle cat, precision and power that put a pit bull or a rotteweiler, a boxer, or even a shepherd or husky to shame.

How those long legs, with such a slender design almost like that of a large deer rather than a dog, supported the beast was something that he would have thought impossible. It was built for speed and power and precision, like no dog breed that he had ever known. Not even the spindly greyhound seemed able to carry itself at such a speed as that monster seemed to have portrayed when it had slunk forward in the darkness.

"That dog…" Honda breathed roughly, shaking his head and giving Duke a horrified look. The other boy glanced between them all, drawing himself to his feet and dusting himself off. He took a seat once more, as if he had never been scared out of it, and then snorted in frustration at his own fear. "Where did it go, you guys?"

"It couldn't have just disappeared…" Mai whispered, trying to sound reasonable but only succeeding in a shaky tone that made Jonouchi quake next to her. The blond glanced around wildly, twisting and turning in his seat and looking ready to vomit in distress. Bonz breathed harshly in Honda's ear, grabbing his arm and shoulder to pull himself to his feet and take a real look around without having to twist in his seat like the others.

"It didn't just disappear," Duke snapped angrily. "It just ran off."

"Are you serious right now?" Bonz cried in distress, shaking his head violently. "That thing came out of nowhere and then it vanished into thin air!"

"No, you idiot, it didn't. Because it's just a fucking _dog_. And dogs do not just disappear into thin air. It was black and there's not that much light anyways. It ran off when we weren't looking," the other spat, shaking his head and rolling his eyes as he turned to snap at Yugi now. "You can take that off when I _tell you you can_."

Yugi stopped short of undoing the knot completely, hands falling away to his lap as Duke grabbed the tails of the scarf and tightened the blindfold once more. The smaller teen grimaced at the way the material knotted in his hair, tugging and threatening to bruise his scalp with the force of the pull he put on it. "But you don't understand," he tried, turning his head towards him but refusing to go back for the blindfold again.

"I _do_ understand," Duke snarled, cutting him off completely when he opened his mouth once more. "We asked for a sign and that is what we got. Now keep it on."

"This isn't right," Honda breathed shakily.

"No, no," Yugi snapped, shaking his head in sharp jerks and lowering his voice to take on a furious edge. "This is something else—"

"It was a dog," the other boy stated angrily. "A _dog_. A common household _pet_. It ran away."

Yugi shook his head again and sniffed at the air, shoulders rising as he turned his attention to the spot that the animal had landed moments before. "What is that smell? Did the candle fall?" he demanded after a moment, drawing in a deep breath of the scent and feeling his shoulders stiffen further, rising uncomfortably at the recognition of it. Something was either burning at that moment or the earth had been scorched in that spot a moment ago.

Anzu let out a strangled noise as she too turned her attention towards it. Steam was rising in billows into the air, in four separate spots, the air too cold for it not to appear there in steady wisps of white smoke. The air was distorted with the heat that the spot gave off, the grass around what looked to be the prints of four paws appearing black and burned. The grass was completely gone and the earth was exposed where the animal's paws had landed, giving off the perfect outline of its massive feet.

"This is a _sign_ ," Duke insisted pointedly, ignoring all of them as they continued to protest. He shook his head, turning his eyes on the spot as well and narrowing his gaze at the bold prints that stared back at him. The smoke did nothing to obscure the perfect shapes, the way they were spaced to hold the dog's weight formerly upon its landing and turning to face them.

"Where did it _go_?" Mai snapped angrily, shaking her head and giving him a furious glare. "Where the hell did it go, Duke?"

"I don't know, who cares? It's not like it matters!"

"What is that? What the hell is that?" Yugi demanded, sniffing again. "Is something burning? Did someone move the candle?"

Jonouchi reached out to touch them, terrified but curious all the same and unable to ignore his wonder at the sight of them. Duke froze in front of him and Yugi stopped short of a sniff to tilt his head, listening to him as he crouched down in the grass. The moonlight cast a faint enough glow to see that the grass around it was pitch black, burned to a crisp but still somehow there though the blades further away were still deep green. He reached forward, his fingers touching the earth lightly, and then yowled as he leaped to his feet, cursing and screaming, "That fucking burns! Holy shit!"

"What _is_ that?" Bonz demanded in a voice that had taken on a slightly shrill edge.

"It's fucking hot!" Jonouchi spat in response, cradling his hand and giving Duke a sharp, furious look.

"Duke, I think we should go home," Honda stated, green eyes wide and dilated as he glanced at the others for support. The others were nodding nearly wildly, with rapid jerks of their heads like they were cheap bobbles from a souvenir store.

"Yeah," Bonz agreed, voice still somewhat high-pitched but growing more even in tone. His eyes were nearly black with the way his pupils had grown so dark, making them startling and oddly beautiful to look at. "We need to get out of here—"

"Please," Anzu begged, eyes wide as she glanced them all over and then looked towards Yugi. The teen was listening intently, head tilted, and his shoulders had risen high to nearly shield his neck completely, his throat flexing as he swallowed roughly several times. He was no longer shaking but she could only imagine how much more terrified he must have been than the rest of them considering he had no sight to rely upon unlike the rest of them.

"I'm serious."

"We have to finish the ritual," Duke said with a conviction that made Yugi turn his head in surprise. His jaw set, his lips twitching and working at a frown, but he said nothing, merely seeming to look at him even though it was impossible to see through the scarf knotted around his head.

"I don't think we should stay here," Mai wheedled in distress, shaking from where she stood at Jonouchi's side. The blond was shaking his head, giving Duke a disgusted look of anger, and Honda and Anzu both appeared horrified by the thought while Bonz remained silent and shook in his seat.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Anzu breathed shakily, quaking even as she started to take her seat upon seeing the resolve in the other's teal eyes. She was tempted for a moment to reach over and lightly touch Yugi's arm, to see if he was okay, but pushed the idea away again. He was scared enough and she didn't need to make it worse by possibly startling him like that.

"Are you fucking _serious_?" Jonouchi spat in anger, shaking his head.

"Duke, I don't think that we can stay here," Honda tried, swallowing hard and glancing at his friends for a moment. Bonz was still shaking horribly when he looked at him but his head was lowered now, staring at the ground in an almost comatose shock.

"There's no _way_ we can stay here," Mai cried, pushing at a whining tone and shaking her head rapidly. They have to be insane to stay after that dog had reappeared and disappeared and then scorched the earth right near Yugi. How was Duke not terrified when he had just narrowly dodged the beast in the first place? If he had just waited a second longer, the dog would have been able to rip his head clean off his neck.

"What are you even _talking_ about?" Bonz whispered, looking at their leader and shaking harder. "We can't just—"

"Okay, all right," the other snapped angrily, holding his hands up. "Fine, _fine_. You guys want to leave? Then go ahead, leave. But you forfeit your place as a member of this circle."

Yugi tilted his head at the statement, scowling momentarily at the response and reaching up to run his hands through his hair. He twisted his forelock around his finger after a moment, tugging lightly on it and breathing out a soft sigh that would have come out rougher if he was not extremely conscious of the fact that Duke was watching him from his peripheral. He could feel it even though he was not trying to think about it, and the teal eyes burned into his skin like fire as he continued to fidget to get rid of some stress.

The others fell silent from where they had been agreeing that they wanted out of there, and now stared in horror at the statement. Looks were swapped for a moment, incredulous and terrified, as if pleading their neighbors to tell them that he was lying and wouldn't really do that kind of thing.

"Oh my god," Jonouchi snapped in annoyance. Pride kept him rooted to the spot, unable to turn his back on the teal-eyed boy even though he knew he should have, and the others remained in place, swapping looks once more. Mai cast him a worried glance, nibbling her lip hard and staring at him with wide violet eyes, pupils dilated fearfully.

"Come on, Duke," Honda mumbled, frowning at him but only receiving a steely indifferent look that made him sigh as he went to regain his place at the other's side. It was really only then that he realized Yugi was alone in the fact that he was still seated next to Duke, having not once gotten up. He was still sitting as he had been before, tense and feeling his shoulders still raised to shield his throat, the sight of the smaller teen making his own bones ache with sympathy.

"Fine, fine, let's just finish this," Mai snapped, shaking her head and sighing as she took her seat once more. She reached outwards for Jonouchi's hand, tugging on his fingers, and the blond looked at him distractedly, still outraged, before finally moving to take the spot next to her. Anzu hesitated for a moment, but upon seeing the others seated once more and not wanting to lose her friendship with any of them, took her spot as well.

"Here we go," Anzu hissed, pressing her hands into the stone slab and nearly shaking at how cold it felt in comparison to the heat that the earth had offered after being touched by the canine.

"Let's just get this over with and then go home," Bonz snapped, voice both appealing towards them trying to enjoy the initiation and just taking on an annoyed frustration with their leader.

"Go," Honda urged, flustered and glancing at Anzu to see the girl fidgeting with her jacket sleeve and swallowing hard. His eyes swept over Yugi once more, finding him trying to relax by easing his shoulders out of their defensive posture with rolls that seemed to only make them rise higher. Finally they settled into a taut position, straight and narrow in design as he remained sitting upright rigidly. His shoulders relaxed just enough to look relaxed but there was a small quiver to them as the moments passed and Honda continued staring at them.

Silence fell over the group finally, all of them twitching with confusion and traces of resonating fear from moments before, and Duke continued after a long minute. "Spirits, having risen, behold our communion."

The others watched him pour something red into the chalice between him and Yugi, having barely noticed the wine bottle before that moment. It had seemed to suddenly appear for a moment in all of their minds but they realized that Duke had probably just set it beside him and just had not placed it on the slab before.

A shiny red liquid fell into the metal cup, bathing the silvery sheen of copper in glossy black, and the others all swapped looks. None of them had been forced to drink anything out of a bottle like that, though they were given a single sip of wine to consummate their joining the circle. It had come in a flask, however, something that was supposed to be symbolic to the spirits, as Duke had claimed multiple times already. The silver of the flask was meant to cleanse the soul of the person who drank from it and if they could swallow the wine it meant that the spirits accepted them as a member.

"Allow this neophyte to drink the spirit's blood so that he too may become one of us," Duke continued, putting the cork back in and drawing the bottle in front of him. Yugi didn't move to take the cup and instead waited for Anzu to gently take his hand, fingers warm and slightly shaky, and lead it to it. He grasped at it firmly when she cupped his fingers around it and his other hand came to balance it as he raised it to his mouth, breathing in a strong fake smell that made him momentarily cringe. His shoulders twitched and he swallowed once before taking the sip just as the others began to speak again.

"Duke, what the hell is—?"

"Put that away, don't make him actually—"

"Shush," the teal-eyed boy snapped angrily, shaking his head at them and then turning back to watch. Yugi took one small sip and then brought the cup back down, nearly gagging as he placed it on the slab once more and wiped at his mouth in disgust.

"What _is_ that?" he asked immediately, covering his mouth with the back of his hand for a moment but refusing to cough at the irritating prickle and disgusting taste.

"Is that _blood_?" Honda whispered to Bonz under his breath, eyes wide and disgust evident in the grimace on his face. They both took in the red liquid, the deep coloring that came with it and the thickness that seemed to make it almost black in the low light. When they glanced at Yugi, they both found that his hand had a smear of the dark liquid across the back, extremely dark and looking exactly as it would have had he suffered a cut and rubbed his hand against his jeans.

"That would be a fake blood concoction—you know, the crap that you get on Halloween that can look either really great or really shitty depending on how you do it. I was expecting you to react better than that," Duke snorted, snickering in amusement though Bonz thought he looked a small bit disappointed that his prank seemed to have fallen flat. "Welcome to the circle, Yugi."

He smirked slightly, nodding in approval at the statement, however begrudging it seemed in his ears at that moment, and rose to his feet as Duke did. "That was pretty awesome," Bonz admitted, voice shaky but growing relieved as he and the rest of them got up to witness the rest of the ritual. He laughed unsteadily, giving Honda a small look of something akin desperation to get the hell out of the cemetery, and the brunet turned away quickly. He knew that he would have no power to change Duke's mind, that they would remain there as long as the raven-haired boy wanted.

"Yugi, I now give you the gift of sight," Duke announced, reaching up to peel the scarf off his eyes, allowing him to open them and stare at him. His eyes seemed blank for a second, as if he couldn't see him properly, and then focused so sharply that he seemed to be staring through him. The moonlight glimmered and made the blue of his eyes glitter as if they were chunks of chiseled gemstone held up to be inspected. Duke was so caught up in the momentary power of that look in his eyes, of the hypnotizing quality that it seemed to possess, that he stopped short. His fingers rested in his hair near the back of his ears, almost as if it were something reminiscent of a tender touch, and he gathered some of his footing again as he looked him over. "You are one of us now."

"All right," Anzu breathed in relief, though she grew flushed when she witnessed Duke lean forward to gently brush lips with Yugi. The smaller teen did not once move, allowing him to do so, and Duke smirked as he pulled away completely. Yugi glanced at her and then the others slowly, almost at ease but with that same tension in shoulders now focused in the tightening of his jaw.

"Okay, so can we go now?" Jonouchi sniped, rolling his shoulders eagerly at the thought of escaping the cemetery and the crazy mutt that seemed to be following them like this. He wanted to just put this all behind him if he was given the chance. Yugi could join their group but he would happily never have his initiation brought up again. For all he cared, they could all pretend it never happened and Yugi just became a member by some kind of whim on Duke's behalf.

"Yeah, let's get out of here," Bonz stated eagerly, nodding vigorously and licking his lips as he looked at the others and received equally fervent nods. Only Yugi remained silent and made no gesture, merely giving him a reassuring smile and turning away to watch as Duke began to gather his things.

Yugi looked towards the spot where the dog prints were, watching the others busy themselves with the task of packing, and knelt down to measure it with his hand. The print was as wide and just as long as his own hands, the toes stretching to the length of his fingers but thrice as thick. His lips twitched, his eyes widening momentarily, and he pulled himself to his feet once more, ignoring the confused look he got from Anzu when she saw him do so.

Duke walked ahead with Bonz, arm wrapped around his shoulder and Bonz returning the gesture. The two of them looked odd and gangly in their walk, the taller looking over his shoulder with a laugh as he murmured, "Going to stick to the original choice of fun, huh, Yugi?"

"Mm," the other acknowledged, flashing him a smirk but not bothering to follow just yet, "I think I chose the right word."

"I was seriously scared when you were doing those rituals," Mai commented, rushing to Jonouchi's side as he trailed the other two. She snuggled into his side when he wrapped his arm around her shoulder comfortably and Yugi watched them momentarily before turning away again.

"I wasn't," Duke laughed, glancing at her over his shoulder and smirking widely before turning away again. Mai gave him a somewhat incredulous look and then shook her head with a roll of her eyes; he would never admit to being scared anyways. He was too arrogant to do something like that.

"I had no idea what was going on," Bonz admitted, shaking his head and blinking. His voice was soft and wistful for a split second, but grew a little strained, tight and shaky, as he continued. "It was great but it…that dog…"

"Oh, don't even bring that up," the other scoffed, rolling his eyes, "it was just a dog. It doesn't matter. We asked for a sign and that is what we got. Now stop talking so loud. You might end up _waking the dead_."

The comment got a nervous chuckle from Bonz who glanced at Yugi momentarily before smiling shakily when the smaller teen suddenly raised his head and looked at him in response. This entire ritual was just so strange and different, with a lot of moments that felt almost as if Duke had been trying to mystify and amaze them rather than actually initiate Yugi. It was the tension of the ritual that got to him, however. He could only imagine how terrible it must have been for Yugi, especially with that sickly fake blood he had been told to take a sip of. Without his eyes, it was probably ten times as hard for him than it was for any of the rest of them. And he had a feeling that that dog was probably far more terrifying when you could only hear it and feel its breath against your skin. He still wondered how Yugi had not screamed when the animal had howled right next to his ear. The booming roar of noise should have been enough to make him leap up and flee.

Bonz admired him for his ability to stay so calm. He had flinched and shaken but he had not fled. Maybe he knew that sudden movements and running would have made it turn on him and give chase. He remembered hearing about how dogs liked to chase people when they ran for it because it was stimulating to them. Maybe that was why it had gone after Duke a second time—because he had run from it when he had hit it with the car and then run when it had gotten up.

But hadn't it chased him? And if he had hit the dog with the minivan at the speed they were going, wouldn't that have actually killed it? Or left it with some kind of limp? But that dog had leaped with such a grace that it was nearly impossible for it to have even been touched by the car. And yet…the car tire had rolled over the animal. They had all felt the lurch of it when it rose and fell as if on a mound of dirt on the road.

Yugi watched them wander off together, tucking his hands into his jacket pockets and nearly missing it when Anzu spoke again, thoughts distracted by the sight of the paw prints next to him. "I am so sorry, Yugi, I didn't know that he was going to do that," she breathed, anxious and begging for forgiveness as Yugi tilted his head towards her, for a moment not listening before turning his complete attention on her.

"It doesn't matter," he stated simply, shrugging and giving her a lazy smile before frowning and narrowing his eyes. "But I do need to know about the dog."

"The dog…?" she repeated slowly, blinking wide eyes and opening and closing her mouth before shaking her head slowly. She glanced at the prints in the grass, at the charred blades that would have made up the shape of the animal's body, and then turned back to him immediately, unnerved. "What about the dog?"

"Did you see it twice?"

Anzu stayed silent for a moment, swallowing hard at the anxiety that she could catch in his tone. "W-why?" she finally stammered, blinking wide eyes and swallowing again as Yugi studied her momentarily.

"It's just really important, Anzu. Did you see the dog twice or not?"

"W—"

A distant snarl made Anzu jump and Yugi's head snapped around at the noise, eyes wide as he looked for the source.

"Oh god," the brunette whispered, shaking her head and swallowing hard again. Fear made her eyes larger than usual and a small bit of sweat was beginning to form on her forehead as Yugi turned to look around again.

"Fuck, we've got to run," he announced, grabbing her wrist. "Anzu, _run_."

"What's going on?" she demanded even as she took off after him. She was actually really happy that she had chosen to wear a looser skirt because it helped to keep her footing and kept her from falling behind. Yugi was a lot faster than he looked, as if his legs had grown longer or something, and the distance he seemed to be putting between them and the canine could put a track runner to shame. "Yugi, do you know something?"

"Just run," Yugi urged, voice bordering a snapping tone of annoyance as he continued forward. She lagged slightly and he tugged her nearly off balance, impatient and refusing to get caught by the animal. "And don't look back—whatever you do, do not look back. Do not look at it."

Yugi nearly jumped a headstone but remembered she was there too. He veered to the left and tugged her with him to avoid it. The sound of the grass crunching under their feet made her head spin. Her stomach twisted as tension seeped through her entire body. The barking grew louder. A snarl ripped through the air as if right behind them. The smell of burning grass made her flinch. She could hear it breathing only a few paces back, quickly gaining. But she couldn't hear it. She couldn't hear it crashing through the grass. She heard the explosion of a stone marker.

It burst in a rumbling cloud of noise. She could hear the pieces falling upon each other, unable to retain their shape. She could hear it breathing harder. She could hear its teeth clicking together as it snarled. She could hear it slavering. But she still could not hear it as it moved forward. There was no weight being pressed against the earth. The grass did not crush beneath paws. But the smell of fire burned more prominently as it gained on them.

For all the speed Yugi mustered, he was unable to keep it away from them. Instead he veered to the right, towards a mausoleum, and spun around with his eyes on her. "Get down and keep your eyes shut. Don't look at it," he urged, gesturing for her to take a seat and hurriedly doing the same. She squinted through her lashes, breathing heavily, and watched him tuck his feet in beneath his legs, pressing himself against the stone completely.

"What's happening?" she whispered shakily.

"Don't open your eyes," Yugi snapped, cutting off any attempt at comfort.

The snarling grew into a furious roar of noise and she kept her eyes shut as the animal closed in on them. The air grew distorted and heavy with heat that blasted against her skin and threatened to singe her. A horrible smell like sulfur and burning flesh enveloped her senses and a snarl made her flinch and cover her ears tightly.

Yugi peeked an eye open, staring at the creature. It paced several steps, shifting its weight back and forth, snarling low in its throat. Its head was lowered to level height with its shoulders, its long tail shifting with each movement. Its muscles rippled beneath its pelt. The earth shriveled away into nothingness beneath its paws, burned to ashes, and the grass withered into black strands of death beneath its shadow. The sound of its snarl was unholy, dipping low and grasping at his insides, his blood beginning to grow cold at the noise. Red eyes glowing like live ambers burned like hellfire and stared straight towards the brunette, ignoring him completely.

The lean build seemed so terribly misleading, though the height that it stood at made it seem larger than life. It had to be at least the size of a horse, though skinnier and much more aesthetically pleasing in build. Its tail nearly touched the ground, straight but quirked to the right at the very end, as if the bone had become kinked somehow. Ears were smooth and rounded, with small tuffs on either side, and its skull was broad, narrow, with a longer snout than a regular dog's. Its fur seemed to absorb the light around it, making the shadows darker, and its fangs dripped saliva in heavy strings of liquid, the earth sizzling upon impact.

It snarled, throwing itself forward, and then disappeared suddenly, as if shying away from the task of claiming the girl. Yugi opened his eyes fully now, staring at the tracks and seeing the large prints, shaking his head momentarily.

"It's gone. I think it's gone," he announced, narrowing his eyes and peering around slowly. He had only seen the dog once and that was purely from curiosity; he would be safe, or at least for the time being anyways. He had no doubt the animal would probably make a claim to him at some point, try to finish the job at a later date, make him see it three times instead of just once.

"W-what was that?"

"We're okay," Yugi whispered, climbing to his feet and looking around once more; the beast was nowhere in sight. "I think we're okay."

"A-are you sure?"

"I'm pretty sure…I think so, yeah…Yes, I think we're good—w-we're fine," he stated in a jumbled rush, eyes wide as he looked around again. He blinked as he took in the height of the grass around them, how tall it suddenly seemed as compared to most cemeteries where the grass was well-kept. The weeds were sharp as they outlined the headstones, the cuts of stone seeming to glow in the moonlight, and the neat paths of dirt and sodden grass made the area seem even stranger. Long blades of grass and overgrown ferns had sprouted upwards in massive patches of greenery, and the entire place looked like a forest littered with gravestones rather than a proper cemetery.

The trees gave to life a gentle breeze and the grass rustled where the plants brushed against each other. A long weed scraped against his clothing almost like fingernails scratching at the fabric but failing to touch his skin. The bugs remained silent but he could see a cricket perched on one of the blades, with enough weight to make the top wilt with the pressure of keeping them upright. Moonlight made the grass appear almost silver for a moment and Yugi shook his head slightly as he glanced at Anzu sideways and blinked slowly.

If there was a mist to cloak the cemetery, it would have looked like a horror movie scene or a wonderland painted silver. He could just imagine the glistening touches of bright white due against the bluish-silver-tint of moonlight and mist. The overgrown grass would have had the perfect effect of highlighting the beautiful glow of color and giving it more foundation. The trees were black in the distance, large vertical lines of towering branches that cut like jagged spikes of dark lightning.

He had already known that this cemetery was half well-kept and yet neglected on the other end of the large area. He had been inside it once or twice, had seen that it was split almost exactly down the middle with the way that its maintenance had been neglected. The older graves were hardly ever visited seeing as most of the families had moved out of Domino at some point or other, and so the grave keepers had probably seen it fit to ignore for the time being. The gravestones themselves had become chiseled and worn down in the further spots of the cemetery, and Yugi had even spotted one of them cracked down the middle with a plant growing through it. So the change of terrain was not truly a surprise to him, though he could see that Anzu herself had not known of this at all.

He lowered his eyes to the ground in front of them, turning his head just enough to take in the charred ground. The smell of burnt grass made him wrinkle his nose and his eyes widened as he looked over the spot that the dog had been.

The earth was scorched in a long trail of paw prints, with the ground exposed and steam rising in billows of bright white smoke. The trail was odd in the way that it looked more as if the animal had run with its back legs in the place of its front paw prints. For every print, there was another to overlap it, and the other difference was the slight displacement that made it look as if each foot had two pads and eight toes instead of four each. The heat that came in the steam bathed over him even with the safe distance of a few feet between them, the strength of the animal slamming through him even with the space.

A loud scream traveled through the air, accompanied by the sound of snarls and a yell from Jonouchi that made them both jump. Yugi looked for any prints on the ground that would have led to where the dog was currently hunting the others, but he found nothing else. The trail ended right where he had seen it, standing there and snarling and waiting for Anzu to open her eyes and look at it as well…

He waited for another noise and then took off after the curse that Duke let out. He must have run when he heard the dog instead of looking at it when it had begun to pursue him. The dog would have let up the chase if he had only turned around and looked upon it before it had put in the effort of running after him. But then, he guessed that it might have just chased anyways. He wasn't entirely sure about that when it came right down to it.

Yugi ignored Anzu when she called his name and came running after him, blue-violet eyes narrowed into slits as he continued listening for the sound of the dog crashing through the undergrowth and Duke's violent cursing. The smell of scorched grass met him first, the smoke choking his nose and making his throat feel hot and raw as he breathed in roughly. He swallowed and his throat ached with the sensation but he ignored it in order to continue running; the grass had turned black and charred, the smoke billowing upwards every which way. The path was scorched to the dirt as it had been in front of his and Anzu's hiding place as well as the spot next to him while his initiation was going on.

Duke yelled loudly and Yugi hurriedly chased the sound. He could see nothing up ahead for a long minute and a half. His legs were beginning to burn. His lungs were starting to ache. He could hear them but he was blind. He panted in exhaustion. His stomach dropped. Duke yelled again.

And suddenly he found himself staring at the raven-haired teen. He was racing towards him instead of away. The dog was hot on his heels. Yugi spun and ducked behind one of the gravestones. Duke raced past him. A furious heat burst over his head. Yugi pressed himself against the marble. It felt almost as if it might freeze him through his clothes. His heart leaped into his throat.

The massive dog landed violently in front of him. Smoke burst upwards at its paws. Heat surged forward and wrapped itself around the two teens. Its black tail was raised but not wagging. Its fur stood in a bristle of pure aggression. Its entire body was tensed and its muscles coiled to spring. Yugi could tell without seeing its face that its lips were drawn all the way back. Its mouth must have been a slathering mess of saliva. He imagined thick strands falling from gaping jaws. He imagined teeth that glimmered in the moonlight. He imagined glowing red eyes like hellfire and brimstone.

Yugi breathed roughly at the sight of it. It was not looking at him or even facing him. He had heard rumors that if it was not facing and actively hunting the person that saw it, then no harm came from the sighting. And it was better to pretend it was safe, right? Yugi felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise in alarm. The heat the dog gave off made his cheeks flush. The intensity made his forehead break into a sweat.

Duke yelled again and spun around to kick at the dog. "Stupid mutt!" he spat, his foot nearly connecting with its jaw. The dog snarled furiously but pulled its head away. It backed up several steps. Yugi tried to press himself against the marble further. But the solid surface refused to yield. He swallowed a whimper as the canine began to turn away. It paced a few steps away, ears flickering. The snarl made both of them freeze and their blood boil in their veins. Horrified, the blue-violet-eyed boy choked and swallowed hard.

It was going to turn—it would turn and see him. It would make him become a target as well. His mouth watered and yet dried out at the same time. His stomach twisted and churned. His heart pounded. Oh gods, he was going to die…

"Get the fuck out of here!" the raven-haired brunet snarled viciously.

The dog's snarl was guttural. Its entire body shook with the force of it. Its fur rose further. Its shoulders rose. Its ears pricked. Saliva fell in thick strands from both canines. The incisors glistened in the moonlight. The earth burned where the saliva touched the ground. The stench was that of rotting flesh that had been charred completely. Its left leg shook with the strain of its terrible tension. The muscles made the fur ripple as if the pelt were alive.

And then it turned its head as if it had been called. Softly rounded triangular ears flickered forwards. Its neck rippled with the power of the motion. Its tail dropped suddenly. Its back legs moved to scratch gently at the earth. The scorch mark was far more pronounced now. The nails tore at the earth in deep grooves. The grass gave way into nothingness. And then its head was thrown back.

Yugi flinched at the booming roar of a howl that parted the stale air. His stomach dropped and twisted. His heart seemed to race as if about to burst. His lungs constricted. His blood heated and then dropped in temperature. He shook violently. Duke covered his ears but Yugi listened to it until it faded. The howl was loud enough that it made the ground shake. The wind stirred but no noise came with the movement. The usual night sounds died away again completely.

Yugi watched as it sprang forward, howling again. A loud booming bark made his ears ring. Duke cursed and looked for a rock to throw at the canine. But the animal was already gone. It had taken off into the darkness offered by the thick undergrowth. The strands were blackened and dead, burned away. The paw prints were set and then seemed to disappear suddenly.

Yugi turned to Duke with wide eyes. The teal-eyed teen was gripping a stone in his hand, one with a harsh jagged edge to it. He thought if it was tossed and hit the animal it would harm it badly. He imagined that if enough strength was put into it the impact and it hit its head, it might just be enough to throw it sideways. The thought made his blood boil and his jaw clench.

"Put that down. It won't do anything but piss it off more," he snapped, getting to his feet and using the headstone to help him keep himself upright. Duke gave him a startled but annoyed look and got up as well. Yugi watched him dust himself off and slip the rock into his pocket. The smaller boy had the impulse to leap at him and throw him to the ground but shook his head sharply instead. It wasn't worth it. The canine could obviously defend itself.

"I'm going to kill that thing."

Yugi bit back a scoff. He wouldn't touch it as long as he was around. He would rather have his tongue cut out and roasted of a stick than witness an animal getting hurt. Especially since he thought he knew for certain the reason it was chasing them like it was. There had to be a purpose and he thought he recognized it. And harming the canine would do nothing to help them in the first place. The most it would do would piss it off and make the repercussions worse.

Then again, what could be worse than what was already in store?

A scream tore through the air and Yugi heard Duke curse again, his teal eyes flashing. "Mai," he muttered, shaking his head sharply and taking off. Yugi opened his mouth to tell him to wait but decided against it after a moment. There was no reason to tell him not to. Besides, they did need to find Mai and see if she was okay. They had to make sure that nothing had happened to the others…

Yugi finally took off after him, tired out of his mind from the run before. He was thrown by it but he wasn't about to let it get to him. He had to help Duke find the others and then they could see what happened. He hoped they were okay; the dog didn't actually seem to be hunting them completely at the moment yet.

He followed Duke for a whole five minutes. The grass was knotted and tangled and seemed to reach for them as they continued moving. The canine had seemed to disappear suddenly, as if nonexistent. Any signs of its path had vanished with it. They slowed down to a brisk jog, breathing heavier. Yugi panted and glanced around; Anzu seemed to have joined the others. And he could see now that Mai was being propped up between Jonouchi and the brunette. She was limping horribly and leaning more heavily on Jonouchi but that was most likely because Anzu wasn't tall enough to support her as completely as he could.

They helped her to a gravestone where she took a seat, holding her foot and breathing hard. Bonz and Honda came up behind them and moved to crowd around her with Duke doing the same. Yugi stood awkwardly aside for a moment, studying them before breathing roughly.

"Are you all okay?" he demanded, looking each of them over; none of them appeared physically hurt. Or at least it did not look as if the canine had gotten to them, anyways. There were no burns or flesh shredded like strands of confetti paper, no fresh blood oozing from wounds that would become severely infected.

Aside from a mark where Mai must have fallen over and gotten mud on her palms and her left cheek, none of them appeared to have anything wrong with them. Jonouchi's hair was in more disarray than originally, Honda's eyes were glassy with startled fear, Bonz was chewing his thumbnail, and Anzu was shivering. Beyond that, they all seemed okay, just scared.

"No!" Mai snarled, head snapping towards him as she worked off her boot to massage her foot. "I twisted my fucking ankle running from that _stupid dog_ again!"

"It's…not just a dog," Yugi said slowly, frowning and swallowing hard as the others all turned to stare at him. Duke was studying him as if he had just threatened him with a knife to his throat, heavily suspicious and angry.

"What?" Jonouchi snapped, eyes wide and glazed with something like fear and pure hatred. First his attention swung from Duke and then to Yugi, expression scathing as he eyed the small teen with dark brown eyes. "What do you mean it's not just a dog?"

"Of course it's just a dog," Duke stated, rolling his eyes and straightening from where he had been rubbing Mai's shoulder.

"No, you don't understand," Yugi replied, giving him an annoyed look and ignoring the eye roll he received once more. "That is not just a dog."

"Stop trying to scare them," the teal-eyed teen snapped, rolling his eyes and gesturing. "They're scared enough as it is, you idiot. Leave it alone. It was just a dog—"

"No, it was not just a—"

"Shut up!" Honda snarled, making all of them stop short and glance at him with wide eyes, startled by the sound of his raised voice. Yugi blinked wide eyes as the brunet turned to him after a moment. "Seriously, shut up and let him talk."

Yugi gave him a grateful nod. "How many times have you all seen it?" he asked slowly, searching their faces to find bewildered and irritated looks that barely left him room to resist the urge to roll his eyes.

"Does it matter?" Duke sneered. "It's a dog. It barks and it snarls and it chases things. That's what dogs do."

"You're not listening to me. That's not a normal dog. It's called a hellhound and if you look into its eyes three times, your death is absolute. Now how many times have you looked upon the dog?"

Silence fell over them immediately and they swapped looks, Mai nursing her ankle more fully now and the others stiffening in confusion. Yugi searched their faces again, blinking, and narrowed his eyes as they all swapped reluctant looks a second time. None of them spoke for a long minute, either too scared or too nervous to say anything.

"We saw it once…on the way here—in the car," Bonz muttered, frowning and glancing at the others. His voice was shaking as he added the last three words and Yugi swallowed as he shook his head slightly. He wanted to tell him that it was okay to tell him, because he honestly needed to know, but decided against it after a long moment.

"Twice when it nearly took Duke's head off," Honda commented.

"And when we were running. So we just saw it again…"

Yugi stayed silent, narrowing his eyes faintly, and then looked around slowly. So the dog had claimed them as its victims. "Well, that's…not good," he mumbled, narrowly dodging away from Duke when he threw a fist at him. He stumbled back, Anzu stepping between them to shield him from the teal-eyed boy, and watched the others all turn on him angrily.

"What kind of bullshit?" Honda snapped, shaking his head in annoyance and glaring at him. Yugi didn't flinch despite the way that Anzu seemed to from the spot next to him. "You see the dog three times and you die?"

"No, you see a hellhound three times and you're its victim," the other stated, narrowing his eyes. He was pretty sure that whatever respect he had gotten from Honda before that moment was officially gone. He didn't believe him and so he didn't give him credit any longer. The irony of that was oddly hilarious. "If you see a hellhound three times you will die. It's an absolution—"

A sound ripped through the air, making Yugi stop short and his eyes widen drastically. The noise came high-pitched and vibrant in powerful volume, tearing through each of them as their blood burned furiously. The ground seemed to shake for a moment but only the wind stirred. The leaves on the trees rustled violently and a branch burst in half and fell to the ground in a sudden, violent thud. The large stick of wood was splintered down the middle in jagged spikes of branch.

The center was burning, whiffs of smoke billowing as if it had been struck by lightning. The end was bright red and blackened with soot, completely covered in dark ash. Embers sparked bright orange and flared briefly before dying away into nothingness as another scream ripped through the air. The wind rippled briefly for a moment, stirring the smoke towards them so that they could all smell something almost as strong as sulfur that burned their noses viciously.

He could see deep grooves in the end of the fallen branch, as if it had been clawed. It looked almost as if the canine had scratched it furiously. The wood was chipped in different parts but he could see smears of black as if the paws had run over it in a dragging motion. The grooves disappeared a few inches downwards, deep and sharp now that Yugi was looking at them.

He blinked wide eyes, glancing around stupidly. The canine was nowhere in sight but the screams were coming up in every direction now. The others around him were frozen aside from their heads snapping in each direction of the growing cries. A long line of grass stirred and sparked with smoke, turning black and crisp against the moonlight, and Yugi shook as his head snapped around again. The hellhound was still not showing itself, thankfully, but it was obviously nearby, possibly incorporeal and waiting for them to make a move so that it could chase them.

"You were a mistake," Duke snapped viciously, glaring at him from over Anzu's shoulder as the brunette turned her head to stare at him in horror. "We should never have let you in."

"I'm not a mistake," Yugi spat, spinning on him furiously. "Just because you can't handle the truth—"

"That's bullshit!" Jonouchi snarled. "There's no way that's true."

"Hellhounds are a myth," Bonz said with conviction, rolling his eyes.

"Black dogs are seen all over the world," Yugi snapped at him, shaking his head in disgust. "And black dogs are a subspecies of hellhound, you moron. But they're less likely to kill you. Especially like this…"

Another scream shredded the air and Yugi blinked stupidly at the noise. His lip was tugged between his teeth and his heart pounded violently in his ears as he swallowed harshly. He could smell more of the burning sulfur-like stench that seemed to be growing far stronger as the seconds passed.

"I hate you," Mai growled, getting to her feet and nearly stumbling. "You think it's so funny to play a prank like this? For fuck's sake, it was only fake blood!"

"You think I'm joking?" he cried in annoyance, shaking his head roughly. "I'm not kidding! We have to go!"

"We should just go, you guys," Anzu whispered fearfully, looking around as if she expected the dog to come racing forward once more.

"I want to go," Mai agreed, giving Duke a pleading look. "Can we just go?"

"He's just full of shit," the other stated, glancing at Yugi disdainfully.

"I am not trying to scare you!"

"Let's just go—"

"Oh please, you set up microphones and speakers so that you could set them off," he snarled viciously, shoving the smaller teen but finding himself startled when Yugi did not budge and instead glared at him furiously. "You decided to freak us out by playing those stupid screams all around the damn graveyard. Where did you stick them, you little bastard? Inside of the mausoleums, behind a few headstones? The trees?"

"What the fuck are you even talking about?" Yugi sneered angrily, shaking his head violently in disgust. "If anyone set anything up, it was _you_! You're the one that arranged this prank and the one who set up the cameras to record it all! If anyone had the time to pull a prank like this, it was you!"

"Why would I even bother with scaring them?"

"Not them, _me_. You wanted to freak me out so you decided to plant this shit around so that you could blame me and get me thrown out."

"Why waste my time with a show when I could just do it anyways?"

"Because you like to humiliate people and just throwing me out wouldn't be _good enough_!"

"That's a pretty large accusation to be making, Yugi," Duke sneered. "Maybe you should watch it before you get hurt—"

A low snarl rose in the darkness like drifting wind, curling upwards like a howl and Yugi felt every muscle in his body tense at the noise. All of them froze in place, shocked by the furious noise that continued to grow louder with each passing second. A scent like burning flesh came across the air and Yugi jumped, startled, looking around wildly; was the canine nearby? Why was it snarling like that? Was it about to hunt them all just that second?

Anzu and Jonouchi swapped horrified looks, recognizing the sound as the snarl grew louder. It sounded almost like a mountain lion hunting, with such extreme power to its guttural noise that it made them all quake. The snarl grew louder, tearing into each of them like fire. It made their ears pop, hearts pounding, and their blood boiled with a panicked heat like terror creeping through their beings.

"What did you do? Bring your own dog here or something? Maybe you gave it some kind of command to sic and kill anyone around in the cemetery at night," Duke continued coldly, narrowing his eyes and smiling slightly in sardonic amusement. "Maybe you got a friend to bring their dog and taught it those nice little tricks. Like stalking us and jumping onto the hood of the car to snarl and try to break the glass on the windshield."

"If it was an actual dog, do you _really_ think that it wouldn't have busted through the window? It was toying with you because it's not a _natural_ dog. If it had been, it would have gotten through the window and torn you to pieces. And you _ran it over_ , Duke. You hit it with your car, the entire front left side of it _lifted off the fucking ground_ , and it got up and still managed to attack the windshield. Do you even understand what that means?"

"That there are probably two of them—and they're both yours. I wouldn't be surprised."

"That's a lot of trouble just to play a prank."

"I wouldn't put it past you. Especially after you acted like you were going to castrate me if the dog got hurt. Care to explain how upset you got when we hit the dog with the car?"

"It could have been someone's pet, you ignorant moron!" Yugi exploded, shoving him violently and looming over him angrily when he landed on his ass harshly. His blue-violet eyes were harsh and narrowed, glinting like chips of dyed ice as they looked at each other. "You can't just run over someone's pet like that and not fucking check on it! And you could have fucking killed it! That's like having someone in your family die in a hit and run accident because someone was too shitty to check on the person!"

Duke scrambled to his feet immediately, glaring furiously as he tried to regain his height and loom over Yugi in return. "You're a fucking moron if you think that you can compare that to a hit and run accident—"

"And you're a fucking imbecile if you don't realize that most people consider their pets _to be family members_ ," Yugi spat.

"That doesn't matter anyways, _Yuki_. The point is that you're deflecting because you set this whole thing up. You had your dogs waiting or your friends with one of them. You set up microphones and projectors to do this—"

"Me? And I would have known that it was this cemetery how, Duke? Let's think about this for a moment—"

"Obviously one of them told you," he snapped, shooting the others a furious sideways glance that made them gawk for a split second before glaring in response. All of them roughly shook their heads, disgusted with their leader's statement and growing furious with the way that he disregarded them to smirk at Yugi. The smaller teen rolled his eyes; he thought he had the whole situation figured out? Fucking moron that he was.

"Judging by how freaked out Jonouchi was, I think it's fair to say that that's wrong." Yugi opened his mouth to continue angrily but was cut off immediately, his eyes widening as he was bulldozed over.

"We need to just find the car, right now! Let's go!" Anzu snapped, shaking her head and hurrying off in a general direction that she thought might lead them to the street. Yugi watched them all hurry to chase her, each of them shooting him vicious sneers, and he shook his head in annoyance with a glance over his shoulder.

The animal was standing a few feet away, head lowered, ears pricked, tail lashing from side to side in something akin a wag. It did not chase however, but its eyes bore into his and its head rose slightly, its lips drawing back some to show its teeth. The incisors glistened in the moonlight, pale and sharp and slender like the tips of daggers. Its muzzle curled back more, the gums a solid pink, and his eyes caught on the canines that were exposed with the movement. They looked as sharp as swords, curved slightly outwards almost like tusks, and saliva was beginning to drip from the very tips. For a moment they stood there, staring at each other, the teen too startled by the sight of it to look away while the dog seemed amused and furious—but mostly hungry. Then, suddenly, its lips fell back into a smooth line of unruffled black fur along its massive snout, and it blinked, releasing him from whatever spell it had seemed to cast on him. Yugi turned away immediately, eyes wide as he swallowed thickly; great, there was the second time their gazes had locked. At this rate, he would be the next without any effort.

"The car is over here," Anzu announced, in the lead, just before she shrieked. All of them watched her tumble into an open grave, the earth giving way slightly where her foot slipped. A small cloud of dust rose upwards and Yugi gaped at the sight of the large rectangular hole in the earth. Scraggly roots from the displaced grass made up a form like hands in the darkness, tiny fingers the width of a human vein reaching out to grasp at her skin. He blinked stupidly at the thought, shaking his head momentarily, and crouched down to help her out of the massive hole.

"You just…"

"If you had fallen another way, you would have broken your neck," Yugi commented nearly under his breath as she reached for his hand. A low, dry sob left her as her hand met his and he braced his weight. Grasping at the grass with his free hand and pulling his kneeled position to aim his bent legs skyward, he tugged hard enough to lift her. Bonz came around to help, the only one of them who was not going to allow some stupid grudge get in the way of helping a friend.

"You just nearly completely…" Duke muttered.

"It's coming true," Anzu stressed, eyes wide.

"But you only saw it twice…like me, you only…" Yugi murmured, blinking stupidly and glancing at the others slowly. Each of them shook their heads slightly, eyes wide but growing furious as they looked at him.

She had only seen its eyes twice too. That should have meant that she was okay, too, right? He knew already that the others had all seen its eyes three times. They had seen it in the car, when it tried to attack Duke, and then again when it chased them. Because he was pretty sure that the only reason the canine had left them alone even for this long was because they had all locked eyes with it a third time. It was the only reason that it had left Duke alone minutes ago. He had looked it in the eyes, had even tried to attack it, and so it had turned and gone after Mai afterwards. All it was doing was hunting them by eye contact…rather than mere sight of it alone.

Yugi shuddered at the thought but refused to let the others see just how unnerved he was at that idea. Was the dog saving him for more fun later? His skin prickled and the hairs rose further on the back of his neck and arms. If he was saving him for more fun later, he thought he was going to lose his mind with paranoia. He wasn't exactly an expert on dog behavior or hellhounds so he couldn't really know if that was a possibility or not. But considering the way that it was chasing them like this and having fun hunting them, he thought that maybe it might be saving him as some kind of dessert.

And he had no doubt that it was smart enough to go around picking and choosing like he was suggesting. He thought that it would happily eat him last if he gave it the chance.

"No, it is not coming true," Duke snarled, looking ready to smack her. "He is _just_ trying to freak you out."

"He wasn't anywhere near me when I—"

A stifling booming noise like a violent crackle of thunder made them all stop short. Bonz and Honda both flinched as their heads turned. Yugi blinked wide eyes, opening and closing his mouth in confusion, and Duke narrowed his gaze into slits. Anzu breathed in sharply and Mai let out a hiss as Jonouchi shivered violently, startled by the sight in front of them.

One of the gravestones, with a quote of " _Remember friends, as you pass by, As you are now, so once was I, Remember in life that you must die_ " etched into its perfectly smooth dark gray granite surface in block letters, had a massive black spot in the very center. It looked almost like a blackened sore. But the edges were forked lines like veins of ink or dark lightning. The booming noise seemed to shatter into a brief silence that welcomed a steady crackling. The edges of the sound reminded him of splintering glass, and the veins growing larger and thicker, stretching downwards, only reinforced the idea.

The tendrils of black moved outwards in long lines. They branched out in massive fissures like the earth's plates moving and ground splitting. As they spread further outwards along the stone's surface, the crackling grew tenfold and the air seemed to split again. The sound was that of something like the sky falling in on itself, like a particularly vicious boom of thunder.

Yugi flinched violently at the noise and the others all gaped. The gravestone broke and fell suddenly. A scream filtered through the still air, followed by a furious snarl immediately after. The granite fell in tiny shards of stone, glittering silver in the moonlight. The shards fell downwards to the grass and dirt beneath. A massive cloud of dust and stone had erupted with the explosion. Yugi opened and closed his mouth stupidly, eyes widened drastically.

"Oh my god…"

"W-what the hell was…?"

The dog must have been extremely close by, invisible to them but within proximity of the stone. The heat it gave off must have made it crack and splinter, caving in on itself. Yugi shuddered at the thought, eyes wide. It must have done the same when it had been chasing him and Anzu across the yard. That headstone must have been too exposed to the heat and combusted and fell in on itself as well.

But the headstone that he had been pressed against hadn't exploded. And he had felt it when it had leaped over him. Maybe he had missed the sound of it cracking around the thundering of his heartbeat. He shuddered again at the thought, swallowing hard and glancing around once.

He opened his mouth to say that they should run, that it must have been close, but stopped short. Duke was clapping loudly, staring at him with a hatred that made his blood feel laden with ice.

"Great job, Yugi," he murmured, nodding in appreciation and giving him a mocking smirk. "First you tell us about dogs that can kill us if we see them three times and then you set up a projector to do that. I give you points. I commend your efforts. They were grand."

"You're so full of shit, Duke. Just because you're too afraid to even consider it—"

"Consider what? Make-believe bullshit? Hellhounds don't exist—and neither do 'black dogs' as you put it. Seeing something three times does not mean that it can kill you. Especially a fucking _dog_."

"Are you kidding me? I didn't even know we were going to be here—you set up this initiation here! You planned to freak me out with that stupid fire thing you had going on and the ceremony because I was blind. You wanted to make me freak out when I tasted the stupid blood concoction because I've been in a circle before. You wanted to make me think that I should feel lucky to join you guys but _newsflash_ , I'm regretting it so much right now!"

"Oh, did you scare yourself with your own prank?"

" _I'm_ _not doing it_!"

"Bullshit—"

"I don't even have a dog! I can't have pets because my mom is allergic, you fucking idiot!" he snarled angrily, shaking and raising his shoulders in a defensive position. "And what exactly would I get from doing this anyways? I would have had to follow you here when you picked it out and before this day we've never even _met_! I wouldn't have known who you were unless someone pointed you out and why would I care then? You're not nearly as great and special as you're trying to make yourself out to be—"

"It's not my fault that you're so upset that your prank isn't doing so well. You should have known with how utterly _stupid_ it was that I wouldn't fall for it." He shoved him and Yugi tumbled backwards straight into the open grave. Duke blinked in surprise, as if expecting that he wouldn't have been able to do that.

A booming howl made them all freeze. Yugi tipped his head up, eyes wide, and froze in place. His heart echoed in his ears and leaped into his throat. His stomach twisted violently, and he leaped to his feet immediately. The grave suddenly seemed too small. It seemed too compact. It seemed as if the walls were moving in. Or…that they were caving in. It seemed as if they were falling downwards and—

He sprang with all the force he could put into it. The grass was soft but strong where he gripped it. He scrambled for a firmer grip, listening to another howl. It sounded as if it were getting closer. He could smell something like sulfur again. Yugi grasped at the grass harder while the others trembled and glanced around.

"Call them off, Yugi," Duke breathed, as if he could feel something in the air that the others couldn't. His hands were beginning to shake and Yugi resisted the urge to snarl angrily. The teal eyes fell on him slowly, as if dazed, and Yugi could see something in his gaze, as if he were beginning to realize something. Or maybe as if he felt the power in that ferocious noise and knew of the intent behind it.

"I don't have a dog," he snapped, bending his right knee harshly against the softer soil and placing his toes flat against the dirt wall. His left leg dangled and he stretched his right arm out. The grave was steep, but the grass was firm. Yugi breathed a small sigh of relief and pulled himself out again.

The howl descended into a roar that fell into nothingness after a long minute. He breathed hard, choking on the scent of sulfur, and swallowed. The hellhound seemed to have moved away again. It wanted them to move—and Yugi wasn't about to argue. He wanted the hell out of there as soon as possible just as much as the others did. He couldn't stand the idea of being there any longer…

"Can't you see how _impressionable_ they are?" Duke snarled, spinning on him as if he had never been inside the hole in the first place. The smaller teen narrowed his eyes into slits, shaking his head furiously. "Call them off and stop talking about stupid shit, Yugi."

"Impressionable? You really think that I would hurt them over you giving me fake blood to drink or wanting to intimidate me?" Yugi snapped angrily. "I'm not trying to hurt anyone. I'm just telling you about what's happening, damn it."

"He's telling the truth," Anzu cried, scratching her elbow and shaking her head. "Let's get out of here. I almost died…"

"Will you knock it off?" Duke snarled. "You didn't die, all right? You're right fucking here!"

"Let's just get out of here!"

They were running, Mai supported by Jonouchi and Honda, and Yugi in the lead with Bonz and Duke. Anzu cast anxious glances over her shoulders, looking for the beast to come out of the shadows and racing after them. But nothing stirred in the graveyard and she relaxed some as the car came into her line of vision. They all made a mad dash for it, Yugi refusing to even once glance back as Duke slung both right doors open for them to climb in.

"Let's go, let's go!" Jonouchi stated, relieved by the sight of it and growing anxious with what Yugi had said before. Three times meant death…

"I knew I shouldn't have let you in," Duke snarled, grabbing his arm in a vice grip as he started for the door. He tightened his fingers to make the other wince but the small teen barely even seemed to notice.

Yugi shrugged him off, voice low and dangerous with a slightly smug undertone that made the other boy blink in surprise. "Oh, but it's not me that you should be worried about, Duke," he murmured softly.

"Get in the car!" Bonz spat, making the taller boy turn away and head for the driver's seat.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Mai whined, annoyed as he glanced at Yugi and then back again towards Duke. If this was all a prank, she would kill Yugi herself, jail and life sentences be damned. She was not about to let him get away with something like this. "Go, go, go, go!"

The car stalled for a moment, the engine refusing to catch, and Anzu let out a low sobbing noise, covering her mouth. Yugi glanced at her with a startled look, again thinking that they had only seen it twice, and Bonz shook violently next to him. Honda looked mostly pissed, shaking his head sharply and giving a dirty glance towards Yugi when he thought he was not looking.

"Come on!" Jonouchi snapped beside him, eyes wide as the car refused to start.

"Hold on a second. It's not starting," Duke spat, sneering as if he were slow. He twisted the keys again and the engine sputtered as if it were a dying patient in Intensive Care. It followed the noise in rapid succession with a soft gargling noise that sounded like the gas were sloshing in its tank.

"What? What do you mean it won't start?" Bonz cried, eyes wide in horror as his head snapped towards Yugi for a split second.

"Oh god, we really are going to die!" Mai cried out, distressed and hysterical. Yugi was with them all this time; there was no way he could have had this all set up. He didn't have his phone and no one was around the cemetery to see them. He had been with them and there was no chance that he could have tampered with the car in the meantime.

"Start the car!" Honda snapped.

"It won't start."

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god—"

"I don't want to die, I don't want to die—"

"Please don't let me die—"

Yugi stared as Bonz and Honda both looked ready to leap out of the back windows on either side of him, desperate to get out as if the car were the thing that had cursed them rather than the dog. He didn't mention that running would probably make it come out to eat them instead of letting them die some other way, and instead put his hands in his lap. It wasn't worth saying. He had already freaked them all out enough as it was. As fun as mass hysteria was at times, this was far from enjoyable.

"You think that just because the fucking car won't start, that you're going to _die_?" Duke deadpanned, sneering the last word and laughing out loud immediately after. "Are you all idiots? The damn thing started, morons. Do you believe you'll live now?"

The others stopped short, eyes wide as they faced him momentarily, and Yugi glanced out the window for a split second before turning away again. Better not to tempt it into claiming him too.

"Oh my god, Duke, you insensitive asshole," Mai spat.

"You're such a bastard," Anzu cried in annoyance.

"Shut up!" Honda snapped, shaking his head angrily. "All of you, just shut the fuck up. Just go. Drive, damn it."

"I don't want to die!" Bonz said slowly, facing Yugi and shivering. "H-how do you undo it?"

Yugi blinked slowly and shook his head after a moment. "You…you can't. There's no way to change it. It sought you out and you saw it three times. That's…that's it," he stated quietly, swallowing hard.

"I don't want to die," Mai spat, shaking her head angrily. "I don't want to die."

"Oh my god, you can't change it?" Jonouchi squawked in the passenger seat, head snapping around to stare at Yugi in horror. "What do you mean you can't change it?"

"Shut up, _shut up_!" Duke snapped, turning his head to glare at them over his shoulder.

"We're going to be okay, we're going to be okay," Yugi stated, nodding at Anzu slowly and narrowing his gaze faintly. "We didn't see it three times, remember? So we'll be fine—"

"I saw it three times!" Mai screeched angrily, spinning on him furiously. "I'm going to die!"

"Okay, you know what, shut the hell up!" Duke spat, turning around in his seat again. "You bunch of fucking crybabies! You want to know what? You're all out of the circle."

"Who gives a shit about the fucking circle? Drive the damn car!" Jonouchi snarled viciously.

"That would be a relief. I'm sick of your bullshit anyways," Honda snapped, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

"Oh bull—"

"Duke, watch out!" Yugi screeched, pointing towards the windshield and then flattening himself against the seat as well as he could. Duke let out a horrified noise as the car went over the edge of the road and straight into the trees. The brakes failed to work as it flew off the ground and straight forward into the trunk of one of the largest trees that any of them had ever seen.

It took about twenty minutes for him to regain consciousness. He was the only one that had been wearing a seatbelt and the only one who had failed to go straight through the windshield upon impact. The others were crushed in the metal and wood of the tree or laying across the forest floor, scattered like pieces of an upturned board game. Only Honda and Bonz had remained in the car due to their positioning in the back seats. They had slammed into the back of the seats and fallen across the floor in unnatural positions.

Yugi undid the seatbelt without too much effort, fingers shaking with adrenaline as he moved to push the door open. It wouldn't move, too damaged from the impact and the way that they had spun and scraped against several others before coming to a complete stop, and was completely locked. The glass was shattered, however, and Yugi could feel a few bits embedded in his arm, blood slowly trailing down the limb as he rolled his eyes and shoved the rest of the glass through.

"You're being a little nastier than usual," he commented, throwing himself out of the window and landing hard on his back, huffing in annoyance. The animal came bounding out of the trees, red eyes glittering, and its tail wagged happily as it strode towards him. The sound of its paws crushing the frosted straw made him smile in amusement and he reached his bleeding arms out for it to come forward.

 _You are the one that insisted upon seeing me twice,_ the other commented, tail wagging more as it came forward to run its tongue over his wound. Its teeth gently picked at the glass, incisors working the shards out more easily as it stepped back and spat it out again. Crouching down and wagging its tail, its eyes turned towards the other bodies cast around them, ears flickering as its lips pulled back into a snarl of annoyance. _I should have mutilated the boy_.

"Oh yes, because a tree branch through the vital organs wasn't enough," he teased, rolling over onto his knees and pulling him closer by the broad neck. The dog allowed him to do so, moving to rub their faces together happily before pulling away and lumbering off for a split second. He watched as it disappeared into the shadows, getting to his feet and wandering forward to snicker in amusement at the sight of Anzu's broken body.

"Told you not to look," he teased playfully, pressing the toe of his shoe into her arm and laughing minutely as his eyes flickered back towards the trees more fully. A moment of silence passed and red eyes appeared at the height of five feet tall, the shadows twisting momentarily as they came closer. Eyes glowing, the other came forward, given a new form that he smirked at in amusement and absolute enjoyment upon seeing.

"Ah, there you are," he purred, gesturing him forward with a lazy flick of his fingers.

The other chuckled softly as he came forward. The moonlight made his hair look beautiful and shiny, each strand glistening with silver. Dark midnight black hair rested atop his head, given a crest of red like its endless depth of glowing crimson eyes. A black leather jacket rested on solid but sleek shoulders, with a dark gray tank top beneath it. Long legs were dressed in black skinny jeans that gave the illusion of more height, touched with a few belts resting on either side of his hips, falling diagonally and hugging his waist. Sneakers of black and gray rested on his feet, given studded designs along the outer sides.

"Mm," the other acknowledged softly, starting forward with graceful strides like the predator he truly was, the human skin he wore doing nothing to shield this from another's sight. Red eyes glowing with amusement and satisfaction, the hellhound made it to his side but ducked away from the kiss he offered, instead eyeing the carnage he had brought along. Yugi sighed at the aloof response he was given, rolling his eyes momentarily and glancing over the bodies as well before returning his gaze to the other. His gaze fell upon the red silk choker wrapped around his throat, given a golden and black metal holding a brilliant blue and violet gem in the middle as a clasp. The jewelry around his neck held only rare small pieces of black obsidian carved to certain shapes and a small wolf pendant that he rarely took off.

"We should fuck," the other announced blatantly, turning his head and smirking cruelly, lips drawn back to show off each of his teeth in a wide curve. "We can make love on the hood of the car."

"Ha, Yami," Yugi snorted, snickering and reaching forward to run his fingers underneath the leather material of the choker and tugging to bring him closer. The hellhound purred at the attention, licking his lips, and he pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth, approving of the gleam of lust in those sultry red eyes. "I don't think there's a hood left to fuck on. You did too well of a job with this one. Besides, even if there was, there's enough damage done to the stupid thing."

"Good point," he stated simply, eyes flickering towards the windshield and baring his teeth. "I should have bitten him. He thought he could actually kiss you."

Yugi grabbed his chin with his other hand, redirecting his attention immediately with a tug of his fingers. Yami blinked once and focused on him, tilting his head but not fighting his grip. "I should have kicked your ass the first time I saw you in the damn graveyard. How dare you actually allow him to hit you with the car, you foolish bastard!"

Yami smirked wily, purring low in his throat. "Oh, but I used to do it all the time," he reminded him with a wistful tone.

"That doesn't mean I have to like it. Remember, you promised me that you would stop doing that."

"It's not as if it harms me—"

"That doesn't matter, you fucking idiot." Yugi narrowed his eyes into slits and shook his head sharply before moving his hands to lace one in his hair and stick the other down his shirt, tracing some lines along his spine. "What matters is that you still did it. I told you never to do that again. You know how much I worry when you do that. It does take you time to recover after all, you fool."

Yami pursed his lips, frowning and sighing as he turned away and huffed, "Yes, I know that. I'm sorry for making you worry." He paused and then looked at him from the corner of his eye slyly. "But you know, that is how we met, remember?"

"As if I'll ever forget," Yugi laughed aloud, pulling him closer to press their lips together and tugging slightly on the back of his choker in amusement. "It's not every day that you're attempting to drive on your own for the first time, hit a wolf-dog that turns out to be a hellhound, get stalked all day by said hellhound, and end up getting offered a deal for immortality if you become his mate."

"Hey, I should get points for that stunt," Yami sniped good-naturedly, pressing their mouths together once more and stepping more fully into his embrace. The cold air heated around them and warmth returned to Yugi's limbs as he allowed him to encroach on more of his personal space until their bodies were touching completely. "Normally you just get stalked, get asked if you'll be their mate, and then if you say no, you get slaughtered like a cow."

"Ah, yes. I believe I gave you points on originality," Yugi murmured, picking at his shirt and tugging gently at the soft fabric with a lick of his lips. "More so for allowing me to live with my family if I could only help you to find easy prey until the day of my sixteenth birthday."

"Oh yes, I am a very generous bastard," Yami purred, causing the other to burst out laughing and move his mouth to his neck, kissing small trails that made him bristle with delicious tension.

"Very much so. Which reminds me, don't do the car thing anymore. Honestly, it gets really hard to work a hunt if I'm worried that you've actually been hurt by the damn impact, thank you very much."

"Except they don't hurt—"

"Fuck you, Yami. Just stop doing it," Yugi snapped, pulling back and giving him a glare. "I'm serious, damn it. Just stop."

"Fine. I'll stop…except for the best kills. If it's…going to be grand, I'm so going to put on my best."

Yugi tried to keep a serious face but instead melted into soft chuckles, shaking his head and pressing his face into his neck again. "Only the most knowledgeable get the car impact, got it, aibou? No one else," he stated. "Otherwise it's a waste of your time and mine worrying over whether you're okay or not. Especially this time—why the fuck did you wait so long anyways?"

"Why, the suspense of course," the other drawled, smirking like the Cheshire cat and gaining a light feather of a swat to the arm as the other shook his head in pure irritation at his answer. "Oh come on, it was good enough to get you to jump out of your car and come running."

"Yeah, and I'm just so lucky that you didn't go for my face," Yugi grumbled, rolling his eyes and pulling away slightly, glancing over his shoulder momentarily. "Not that I would have complained, honestly…"

"Bullshit, you were still human," Yami laughed, pressing his nose into his temple and running his teeth down the length of his face, Yugi narrowing his eyes into slits and turning back with a small smirk. "You wouldn't have liked that at all, stupid boy."

"I'm stupid?" he snickered, shaking and then tipping his head to the side to encourage him to run his teeth over his skin once more. "That's such a brave statement coming out of your mouth, Yami. I should punish you for that."

"Yes, please."

"Stupid hound."

"I prefer Harbringer of Death, thank you very much," the other snapped in a childish tone, pouting playfully and purring when Yugi drew his lip into his mouth, tugging with his teeth. "Ooh, dirty."

Yugi pulled away laughing, smirking as he turned his eyes on the carcasses and tilted his head towards him. "You kind of mutilated dinner," he commented playfully, reaching out to run a finger under his chin and making the other snarl in approval at the sensitive touch.

"The girl is still in one piece—well, actually, all of them are but the green-eyed idiot with the headband. They're all relatively edible. You might have to watch for random tree limbs, of course, but—"

His lips pressed momentarily into his, cutting him off completely, and his head turned back towards the crushed car. "Next hunt, I'm playing the alpha. For fuck's sake, you nearly ruined a perfectly good meal!" he snapped, giving him a furious sideways glance that immediately melted away into laughter. What did he honestly care? There was so much blood. It was dripping from the car door where Duke was stabbed with a tree branch almost the very size of him, carving a large hole in his torso. Jonouchi was crushed in a shower of glass, his skull busted with his impact with the tree trunk, lips painted bright red with blood. Anzu was lying on the forest floor, neck twisted in an unnatural way, arms braced forward as if she had tried to absorb some of the impact. Honda had his neck snapped and blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth, drizzling down his chin where was propped in a somewhat upright position against the back seats. Mai was torn open by the shards of glass and the impact with the tree, lying beside Jonouchi motionlessly. And Bonz—oh, stupid, inexperienced, amateur Bonz who thought he knew so much—was strewn across the floorboard like a ragdoll. His body was twisted every which way, bones broken beneath skin, white risen from rivers of bright red.

The chaos of the scene, the very carnage that bathed the forest floor, was enough to dilute his momentary anger into absolute nothingness and his mouth watered heavily. His eyes shot to the other, pleading, and Yami smirked, tipping his head to the side before nodding.

Yugi sprang forward, bones popping beneath his skin, jaws opening wide as his limbs elongated. His senses kicked forward in a height tenfold of that of a regular human, fingers opening wide as his nails curved and grew thicker. The clothes tore along his body, the threads making his ears roar with the noise. His heart kicked up several notches to accommodate the speedy change it was undergoing, and his mouth grew elongated, sinewy with muscles that would put a crocodile's fierce jaws to shame. Fur began to burst along the length of his body, long strands of dark black like an empty abyss without a shimmer to offer the strained moonlight attempting to bathe it in gentle silver. Teeth stretched and punctured soft gums, pushing upwards in arches of sharp enamel that could crack a bone in two with the lightest of pressure. He landed on paws and thick black nails as sharp as the blade of a knife, his weight making an impressionable thud in the straw. The scent of blood amplified in his nose as he breathed in once slowly, tipping his head up to stretch his thickened neck. The muscles rippled along his body as he stretched himself out, turning an ear to listen to his partner's beating heart, the wet muscle throbbing and twisting in his chest cavity.

He turned his head, wagging his tail happily, and the other hellhound smirked in amusement, teeth glinting from the slight moonlight that was cast upon them. His canines grew longer, curving, and Yugi resisted the urge to run around him in a circle, barking and howling with excitement and affection, only because of the feeling of his heart pounding too hard in his chest. His blood was boiling in his veins, growing accustomed to his sudden change, and he lowered his hindquarters to the floor, relaxing his muscles to allow some of the pained tension to seep away from him.

His mouth watered as he tipped his head slightly to the side, breathing in the delicious scent of death and spilled blood. His lungs expanded fitfully to draw in the richest touches of the breath, the cold impact of it swirling inside of them like mist atop the surface of heated water in winter. The popping sound, low and drawn out, and the noise that came with Yami's jaws clicking forcefully to swallow away some of the bile that rose with the traditional Change, made his ears flicker but he did not look. He had long ago learned not to trust himself to look, as his immediate instinct as the other's mate was to attempt to stop anything was hurting him. More often than not he had wound up panicked and trying to help him through the Change only to have Yami turn his fangs on him and hurt himself worse with his actions.

 _Impatient as always,_ Yami noted, trotting forward with his tail raised like that of an excited German shepherd, the thick black-furred bone waving like a flag. Yugi opened his eyes and sprang to his feet, the pain leaving him immediately at the prospect of food, and he hurried to his side, their pelts brushing.

 _Hungry,_ Yugi agreed with a small nip to his ear that gained him a playful growl, the other momentarily pressing his teeth into his cheek and tugging once in teasing approval. The blue-violet-eyed canine huffed, watching its breath crystallize before its nose, and then growled softly once before twitching his nose. Yami turned his attention away after a moment, the game immediately forgotten at the thought of the meal that they had hunted together.

The earth gave satisfying sizzles of disapproval at the touch of their heated paw pads burning away the layer of straw as if it had never existed in the first place. The animals around them silenced as if death had seized them suddenly, and all of the bugs' beautiful harmony fell away as if it had never been. The only sound to greet the stillness of the night was the straw burning beneath their paws, the soft weight that came with each of their steps.

Yugi turned his head, running his tongue over the other's cheek, and leaped onto the crushed hood of the car. It creaked beneath his weight, as light as it was, and the metal groaned as it began to burn beneath his feet as if it had just met a welding torch. His tail wagged and he could hear Yami sniffing at some of the others, his breaths as even and steady as his fur gliding over his coat.

It was his right to pick the freshest of the prey, to claim a prize of one of the bodies they would soon make a meal of. He watched eagerly as the other picked at the bodies, sniffing at the junctures in their throats, low steady breaths that made Yugi tremble with approval. For a long minute the red-eyed hellhound merely sniffed, moving among the others and eventually leaping onto the hood with him. He stepped back, moving to give him room to pick as was the other hellhound's right. Since there were only two of them the hierarchy was simple in the fact that they held equal rights to everything except during hunts. During hunts the hellhound that made the kill itself, as Yami had done, gained the right to claim the best of the carnage that they had brought about. And if Yami thought he was too close while he was choosing, he would not fail to turn his teeth on him. Instinct said the alpha in the kill got the first bite and they would attack and potentially kill another hellhound that strayed too close to cheating them of this right.

Yugi had gotten his muzzle scratched and fur torn out the first couple of times he had been with Yami during a hunt. The other hellhound had been careful not to harm him much, though he had drawn blood on both occasions, pinning him and snarling in annoyance. But the lesson had stuck with him immediately, learning quickly, and Yami had always held a respectful distance when Yugi had been the one to make a kill—especially the first time. Yugi had been ready to attack him just for being in close proximity and breathing the same air as him, anger only quelled when Yami had thrown himself onto his back with his tail between his legs. All the excitement and adrenaline from completing his first kill had made him even more volatile towards the other canine than he had ever suspected he could be. That sensation had never quite quelled but had grown more diluted and softer.

Jonouchi was sniffed several times, as if he were about to sink his teeth in, but then his lips curled back and his head turned towards Mai, drinking in her scent as well. Yugi settled onto his belly, watching with a slight bristle to his fur at the sight of his mate moving about like he was. Yami swung around, facing him momentarily, and he huffed gently, ghosting his breath over his ear in affection, before throwing himself into the car. The plastic of the wheel, the dash, the gear shift, all began to melt at the heat that his pelt offered in the distilled air. His jaws worked in a low snarl as he picked his way about the broken glass, the leather beginning to blacken furiously as the seconds passed.

A moment passed and, as Yugi had expected, the softened velvet covers of the seats began to catch fire. A small bead of black smoke drifted into the air, curling up towards the roof and staining it, and a single tiny flame burst into the air. The seat parallel it took up the same slow burn and Yugi climbed to his feet, poking his head inside to watch the other. Finally Yami threw his shoulders against the back door of the car, tossing it open effortlessly as his paws braced against it and the plastic melted visibly. The glass took up a furious condensation at the touch of his breath, and the metal screeched with the new addition of his power.

Honda's body was tossed carelessly into the dead straw and the wolf-dog leaped forward, crouching over it and sniffing again before taking a small bite into the juncture of his throat. Yugi waited until he was satisfied with the taste of it, his muscles quivering beneath his fur and his entire body twitching with gratification, and picked his way into the back seat as well. His jaws closed around Bonz's throat and he tugged him out, careful to avoid Yami who moved to make space for him to lie beside him. Their pelts brushing and tails quivering, they both methodically dug their fangs into their chosen meals.

Yami's tail swept over his, the tip curling around his, and Yugi growled in satisfaction, flicking his ears and returning the gesture to tie the long flags of fur into something of a knot like that of two cats. He had long grown accustomed to it and knew without looking that the simple motions had turned their tail tips into the shape of a bushy heart.

 **Tell me what you think? These wolves are a test run for my future multi-chapter fic later. So reviews are DEFINITELY very much appreciated.**

 **Happy Halloween guys~**

 **A few quick notes for anyone who was wondering:**

 **Yami's technique of getting hit by the car of his target and then going after them is based on the Bray Road Beast's first recorded sighting. And since the Bray Road Beast is considered a werewolf/dogman it made sense to me to use it as the way that Yami would get the attention of his victims. (The Bray Road Beast exists in Wisconsin and commonly shows itself near or around Bray Road. The sighting occurred on October 31, 1999, by a woman named Doristine Gipson, who hit the beast when she went to change the station on her radio. Her front right tire ran over it and she got out to see what it was but was scared away when a "dark, hairy form" raced towards her.)**

 **In mythology, hellhounds are said to possess fire-related abilities—hence the scorched earth and the way the seats caught on fire when Yugi and Yami passed through the glass. They were said to have to lock eyes with you in order to truly harm you (though some legends say just SEEING it will kill you or someone close to you, whether you see them once or three times) and the strongest/most well-known hellhound of all is called Black Shuck. He has been seen numerous times and is said to need eye contact in order to kill you or one in your family as eye contact made with it is said to "make your soul its for eternity". Just seeing him usually brings a lot of misfortune but eye contact is what is usually required for a death to happen.**

 **Hellhounds can only kill or harm someone if they see them (which is why Yugi tells Anzu not to look and constantly refers to his own sights of the dog when trying to make her feel better). A trick for Black Shuck is that if you hear him howling, you need to keep your eyes shut and wait until it passes by or else you'll be cursed to die within the year or with significant misfortune or a death in the family.**

 **Black dogs are called phantom black dogs (or white dogs) and have been seen in numerous places in Britain. I named them a subspecies of the hellhound for the reason that they are often considered to be hellhounds as well (many people consider Black Shuck and Gally Trot [his supposed white dog persona] to be black dogs and others call them hellhounds so most people use those two titles interchangeably).**

 **Hellhounds are said to be pitch black and do not give off any shine with their coat, no matter the light that touches them. So in other words, they're like ventablack in the shape of a shaggy dog (most of them are described as shaggy dogs) with sharp teeth and glowing red, green, or yellow eyes (or eye—some accounts say that Black Shuck has one eye in the center of his forehead like a cyclops).**

 **Note: The hellhounds cannot usually speak mentally as well as Yugi and Yami do in the story—it's only for this one-shot, however, not for every pack of hellhounds.**

 **If anyone is interested in more about Black Shuck or Gally Trot, black dogs or hellhounds in general, then PM me and I'll give you a few links.**


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